Laois County Council and the Southern Regional Fisheries Board have begun separate inquiries into a fish kill in the Triogue River near Mountmellick. Up to 100 dead fish have been counted in a three-kilometre stretch of the river, which runs into the Barrow.
Ms Ciara Lennon, environmental officer with the fisheries board, said the quality of water in the river had been shown to be poor, with an Environmental Protection Agency report establishing that 69 per cent of the river was moderately or seriously polluted.