Minister Lenihan supports environmental initiative on Dublin’s River Dodder

February 18th, 2011

Minister for Natural Resources, Conor Lenihan, T.D. today joined 4th class pupils from St. Pius X Girls national school, Terenure on a field trip of the River Dodder. The purpose of the field trip was to analyse the water quality of the River Dodder, a river that is very important in south Dublin.

In preparation for the field trip Des Chew, Project Manager of the Dublin Angling Initiative visited the school and gave the pupils a talk on water quality, the lifecycle of trout and the art of fly-fishing. The pupils then participated in a field trip along the River Dodder, starting at Rathfarnham shopping centre and finishing at the confluence of the Dodder and Owendore rivers at Bushy Park. Minister Lenihan was joined by TV celebrity and angler Derek Davis.

Fisheries staff from Dublin Angling Initiative and Inland Fisheries Ireland took kick samples and were ably assisted by Gerry Heaslip and Brian McDonagh of the Dodder Angling Club. The children identified invertebrates and their delight could be heard far and wide as they found many different species of stonefly and caddis fly! Looking at water pollution indicators, the children could establish that the presence of these different types of invertebrates indicated the good water quality in the river. This is not surprising given the very healthy stock of wild brown trout in the river.

Minister Lenihan, remarked:

‘It is wonderful today to see the young people out learning about their local river, I am very impressed with the interest and enthusiasm they have shown in angling. The River Dodder is a very important river in south Dublin, it has good water quality, contains a healthy population of wild brown trout and is a wonderful angling resource.

This is in no small part due to the excellent relationship that the Dublin Angling Initiative and Inland Fisheries Ireland have with the Dodder Angling Club’.

Following this the children were given information packs on fish species, invertebrates and fish species posters. St. Pius X School has participated in Inland Fisheries Ireland’s ‘Something Fishy’ programme in previous years and were thrilled to take part in such an exciting field trip of their local river.

The ‘Something Fishy’ project was developed by Inland Fisheries Ireland (formerly the Central and Regional Fisheries Boards) in association with Blackrock Education Centre and has proved a highly successful way of encouraging young people to take an interest in Irish fish species, their local environment and habitat. In 2010 almost 1,000 young people participated in the Something Fishy programme within the Eastern River Basin District. If you would like to be involved in Something Fishy or try something during our Fisheries Awareness Week check out our website www.fisheriesireland.ie

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Notes to Editors

The Dublin Angling Initiative was set up in 1995. Its principal aims are to promote, develop and improve angling in the Dublin and Greater Dublin area and is sponsored by Inland Fisheries Ireland. It sets out to introduce angling to young people in Dublin, to improve the angling product and to develop educational programmes to heighten fisheries awareness. During the summer months the main work of the initiative is taking young people from National and Secondary schools, summer projects and youth services throughout Dublin City Centre and its suburbs on fishing courses. Since its inception 6,000 teenagers have participated in sea, coarse and game fishing programmes. These fishing courses are the first preference choice for activities run in youth projects in Dublin during the summer months.

Inland Fisheries Ireland is a statutory body operating under the aegis of the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and was established under the Fisheries Act on 1st July 2010. Its principal function is the protection and conservation of the inland fisheries resource. IFI will promote, support, facilitate and advise the Minister on the conservation, protection, management, development and improvement of inland fisheries, including sea angling and develop and advise the Minister on policy and national strategies relating to inland fisheries and the sea angling resource. www.fisheriesireland.ie

In a further effort to combat poaching Inland Fisheries Ireland have just launched a new freefone number to enable members of the general public to report poaching and pollution incidences - 1890 34 74 24 or for easier recall 1890 FISH 24. This phone line is designed to encourage the reporting of incidences of illegal fishing, water pollution and invasive species.

The ‘Something Fishy’ programme is aimed at fifth and sixth classes and comprises of 9 double-sided activity cards for pupils, which explore different aspects of fish life, e.g. water, fish, the life cycle of a salmon, fish stocks, angling, conservation of our rivers and lakes, and fish as part of the food chain. Teachers’ notes which accompany each individual activity card include relevant background information and guidelines on working through the lesson. The pack is accompanied by a high quality poster, developed by Liam O’Briain, an experienced teacher, angler and artist, and aims to aid the learning process in order to keep the children interested once the activity cards have been completed. The pack is available in Irish and English and is supported with an interactive website: www.somethingfishy.ie

Fisheries Awareness Week 2011 takes place countrywide from May 7th to 15th. For full details of events and locations click on www.faw.ie

Media Enquiries:

Suzanne Campion
Head of Business Development
Inland Fisheries Ireland
Anglesea Street,
Clonmel, Co. Tipperary.

Tel: 052 6180055 Fax: 052 6123971;

Email: suzanne.campion@fisheriesireland.ie Website: www.fisheriesireland.ie