A NEW €1.75 million project working on the restoration of the lower Shannon conservation area for fish and wildlife has been officially launched on the Mulkear river in Co Limerick.
The Mulkear is one of the top five salmon rivers in Ireland, producing a significant annual salmon run, and it is one of the Shannon’s most important tributaries.
It holds substantial populations of sea lamprey and otter are known to be widespread, although recent evidence suggests numbers are in decline.
The Mulkear is about 21.5km long, rising in the Slievefelim and Silvermines mountains and flowing through a picturesque landscape, before joining the Shannon near Annacotty, Co Limerick.
The catchment area spans Limerick and Tipperary. At yesterday’s launch, Shannon Regional Fisheries Board chief executive Eamon Cusack said the board was delighted to be implementing this “critically important project”.
“MulkearLIFE is one of the first and most important integrated catchment management projects in Ireland,” Mr Cusack said.
“The project will be of key importance in supporting stocks and protecting the habitats of Atlantic salmon, sea lamprey and otters in the Lower Shannon special area of conservation while building on the work of the Mulkear Catchment Management Group.”
The board also welcomed the support from the National Parks and Wildlife Service and Tipperary county councils, local anglers, farming bodies (IFA and ICMSA), ESB, Coillte, Teagasc and the Department of Agriculture.
Project manager Ruairí Ó Conchúir said his team appreciated the 50 per cent funding from the EU under the LIFE Nature programme.
Michael Collins of the Office of Public Works said the OPW was committed to spending €305,000 on the MulkearLIFE project over the next four years. Staff from the OPW would also be working directly on the project.
“This is the latest extension of OPW collaboration with the fisheries boards that stretches back more than 30 years and has encompassed works on almost all of the major drainage schemes under OPW control,” Mr Collins added.
John Sheehan of Limerick County Council said the local authority would be carrying out a range of supporting project actions including bank protection work, in- stream rehabilitation work and a major programme of control and eradication of invasive plant species targeting giant hogweed and Japanese knotweed.
Martin Territt, director of the European Commission Representation in Ireland said: “The actions being undertaken by the MulkearLIFE team, its partners and the local community should not only help to restore the natural balance in one of the Shannon’s most important tributaries, but it should also become a model for restoring river catchments throughout Europe to their natural state.”