OPINION (AN COLÚN): An evening listening to the voices of the Shannon

I SPENT a very interesting and enjoyable evening in An Gáirdín in Portumna recently, an evening that was devoted to the Shannon, its beauties, possibilities and problems.
An Gáirdín is run by the Mercy Sisters who established the place in 1994, their ambition being to “find new ways of expressing our commitment to the Earth.” They perceive the Earth as a living organism, a great web of interconnectedness and independent life; all things emanating from the source of the universe; all things filled with His vision and magnificence and love; the Sisters believe that discovering ourselves is realising our immanent oneness with that transcendence, our oneness with magnificence and love.
In An Gáirdín they run Educational Programmes and a beautiful area devoted to Organic Growing.
On the evening I attended the conversations became sometimes quite heated and emotional. The 30 people in attendance were from a wide range of different backgrounds, but they all shared one thing in common - a profound regard for the Shannon. They cared very deeply about the river and its interconnected system; and they felt deeply pained by any actions or proposals which didn't pay it the due reverence and respect that it deserved.
The first talk of the evening was given by Janet Laffey of the Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO). Her message was a sobering and stark one. She pointed out that in the East Galway / North Tipperary Shannon catchment region we are going in the wrong direction. Only 54% of the watercourses in this region have a High or Good water quality ranking. The other 46% are Moderate, Poor or Bad, which is a very worrying statistic. Between 2007 and 2011, 21% of the region's watercourses were ranked High; between 2016 to 2021 that had dropped to just 1%.
Which sectors of our society are the biggest culprits for this depressing decline?
Top of the list is Agriculture. In this region agriculture is responsible for unacceptable readings (Moderate, Poor or Bad) in 31 waterbodies. The next biggest culprit is Hydromorphology, which accounts for a deterioration in 19 waterbodies. Hydromorphology is the alteration of our waterways, such as drainage schemes or straightening the watercourses. Third is Forestry (14 watercourses). 4th is Extractive Industry (7 watercourses). “In this part of the country,” explained Janet, “the soil is poorly draining peaty soil, and phosphorus washes off from the land into the rivers. The agricultural culprits include cows drinking in our rivers and streams; and slurry. 10 foot wide plantations of trees on either side of the watercourses would greatly alleviate these adverse affects.” She talked about the excellent Farming for Water scheme which a lot of farmers have signed up to. The problem, she said, is not to do with the attitude of farmers, but rather with poor farming practices. The problem lies with government policies over the years. Farmers have just been doing what they were told to. “No matter who we are, from whatever background, we all want clean water.”
She also told us about an interesting Rainwater Planter scheme in Ballinahown in Westmeath, a scheme which has solved a lot of the village's flooding problems.
If you are a farmer and want to get involved in the excellent Farming for Water scheme contact Janet at jlaffey@lawaters.ie.
The next speaker was Sinead Sheehan. Sinead is a psychology lecturer in University of Galway. She is also involved in a number of campaigns kicking back against what she sees as being blinkered, extractive and cold-hearted capitalism. Many of us know that such campaigns can be very draining in terms of time and energy; and Sinead admitted to sometimes feeling very weary because of the weight of the struggle and having to deal with soul-destroying things such as reams of bureaucratic paperwork. Her vision is to move us further away from an extractive economy and closer to a regenerative economy. She spoke about Ardnacrusha and fish, such as the Lamprey, not being able to pass through this formidable obstacle. She spoke about the river communities being Guardians of the River; about the river's “rights” (as should be enshrined in law). She mentioned the vast waste disposal area of a steel company in Aughinish Foynes, which looks terrible. Futureproof Clare is fighting a High Court case against this company (which is a Russian company called Rusal). Futureproof Clare is also fighting a High Court case against the proposed Ennis Data Centre, “with its 25 chimneys. This Data Centre,” she claimed, “will use as much water and electricity as 200,000 households. There are about 80 Data Centres in Ireland.” She spoke of her opposition to Shannon LNG; and the proposed Shannon Pipe to Dublin.
Sinead admitted that her message is often from the heart, which can be brushed aside by those people who are talking economics and hard facts, but nonetheless her point is a valid one - Is our attitude to the Shannon imbalanced? Have we given too much leeway to the extractive way of thinking? To be sure, making a living is very important, and using our natural resources is often necessary; but we must be careful that we keep our eyes on the soul of things as we tread our paths. And there are quite a few things where we have really tipped over the edge into soullessness. For example, the stark loss of water quality in our rivers is surely a warning that we have lost our way. The fact that vast shoals of fish are prevented from roaming the Shannon is another sign of disconnect from our better natures. And pumping water to Dublin - does it not strike you as being one of those crazy schemes which are cooked up in dictatorships such as China?