‘Blue Dot’ promotion in Offaly village to continue during Heritage Week

OVER the last number of months, several initiatives have been carried out in Kinnitty to highlight the pristine waters in the locality, that are classified as some of the top 1% of river waters in the country.

According to local Community Water Officer, Cathal Flood, “The ‘Blue Dot’ Catchments Programmes vision, administered by the Local Authority Waters Programme, is to collaborate with local communities to protect and improve our pristine waters so that the benefits to biodiversity, health and well-being, heritage and the climate can be enjoyed by current and future generations.”

Kinnitty based Councillor John Clendennen has been liaising with Cathal along with other officials at the Local Authority Waters Programme to identify ways to engage the community and highlight the importance of the pristine waters. “We are extremely fortunate to have waters of such high quality in the Slieve Blooms, particularly when less than 1% of river water nationwide is classified as pristine and it’s important they are protected through community engagement,” according to Cllr Clendennen.

A new directional sign has been erected at the village green to encourage people to visit and enjoy the nearby rivers, and a workshop and colouring competition was launched at Kinnitty National School in an effort to inform children in the community of their responsibility as custodians to protect this important resource.

On Sunday August 20th at 8pm at Kinnitty Community Centre (R42 EK57), an event will be held under the National Heritage Week Programme to further promote the ‘Blue Dot’ and engage the community. Professor John Feehan will be the guest speaker. A native of Birr, he is one of Ireland's leading geologists, botanists, environmental communicators, authors and broadcasters. Professor Feehan will discuss how the Camcor river shaped the landscape around the village. Tickets for the event are available at EventBrite or email cflood@lawaters.ie.

All are welcome to attend the event and refreshments will be served. “This should be an informative event for all ages, hopefully the engagement we saw with national school children will be replicated and the objective to promote the importance of protecting our pristine waters in the locality will be achieved and future funding will be secured to ensure future events and initiatives,” concluded Cllr Clendennen.