26 July 2024

Northern Ireland Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs visit to the Mountain Water Catchment, Co Monaghan

Teagasc, together with its ASSAP partners LAWPRO and Lakeland Dairies, welcomed Northern Ireland Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Andrew Muir to the farm of Padraig and Niall Hughes, Emyvale, County Monaghan, located in the Mountain Water catchment. The purpose of the visit was to see first-hand how combining catchment science with a dedicated advisory service can help farmers to implement measures to protect water from agricultural pollution.

Minister Muir said: “I was delighted to visit Emyvale and see the good work being done by everyone to improve water quality in the River Blackwater, a cross border catchment that flows into Lough Neagh. This is something very close to my own heart and improving water quality in Northern Ireland is a top priority for me. I was keen to hear first-hand about the initiatives and approaches being adopted here.”  

“I firmly believe that we will all benefit from a partnership approach when it comes to tackling the challenges of improving our water quality. I have no doubt we have much to learn from each other and look forward to continuing our collaborative working to improve our shared waters.  I would like to record my thanks to Teagasc and Padraig and Niall Hughes for hosting today’s event.” 

Teagasc Director, Professor Frank O’Mara said; “Teagasc has identified 8 actions for change that farmers can implement to improve water quality, and we are committed to supporting farmers in adopting these actions building on the knowledge gained and progress made by ASSAP”. 

Ted Massey from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, said; ‘The Irish Government is committed to working to improve the sustainability of Irish agriculture and one key element of that is to reduce agriculture’s impact on water quality’. He continued by saying, “I particularly welcome the level of collaboration that now exists north and south as we seek to address what are often common challenges in terms of water quality”.

Director of Services for LAWPRO, Anthony Coleman stated; ‘In order to address the issues affecting water quality, scientific evidence is required to identify pressures impacting different types of water bodies. LAWPRO have developed catchment assessment techniques to effectively identify what issues are impacting water quality in catchments and refer this scientific evidence to the appropriate agency so that appropriate measures can be put in place.’ 

Rory Farrell, Group Head of Sustainability at Lakeland Dairies said that “As a cross-border co-operative, it was great to engage with Minister Muir to showcase the success of the Mountain Water catchment. Rivers do not respect borders and we believe that this joined-up approach is critical. As a founding member of ASSAP, Lakeland Dairies has long supported our farm families to improve water quality. Protecting and enhancing water quality is an absolute imperative for our co-operative and our industry. Lakeland Dairies though our participation in ASSAP and the roll out of our farm sustainability strategy ‘Farming for a Better Future’ coupled with our sustainability incentive payment shows our farmers are meeting the water quality challenge head on.” 

Ends.