A midlands community has complained to Government over its failure to protect a local lake, an important wintering site for wildfowl. Rathowen Community Development Company in Co Westmeath has claimed the drainage of Glen Lake, on the Westmeath/ Longford border, by the Office of Public Works has caused damage to the site.
According to Mr John Rodgers, a spokesman for the group, the local development association had hoped to build a number of tourism-related projects around the lake, which had been designated a Special Protection Area under EU regulations.
But the projects will have to be put on hold because the drainage of the site has led to a dramatic decline in the number of birds coming there.
"It's ironic that we are complaining about land being drained at a time when communities all over the country are complaining there is not enough drainage and their homes are being flooded," said Mr Rodgers.
"But the fact remains that the OPW began draining old channels leading from the wetlands in September and they did too much work, and the levels of the water have dropped dramatically.
"Glen Lake is normally a swamp in the summer but it holds a great deal of water in the winter, so much so that at this time last year I counted 450 whooper swans.
"Last Saturday I counted only 72 and there has been a corresponding decline in the number of other birds such as lapwing, golden plover, widgeon and curlew," he said.
"The lake has also got an interesting flora on the muddy substrate, including quite a lot of bur marigold (Bidens cernua), and this too will be destroyed by the lower water levels," said Mr Rodgers.
"The drainage has reduced the size of the lake by half and its role as a very important wintering area for European fowl is now very much in doubt," he said.
He said it was remarkable the work of one arm of Government, the Irish Wildlife Service, which spent a large amount of time and public money preparing plans to keep water in the lake by using sluice gates, could be so damaged by the work of another arm of Government.
"The lake was the greatest asset our local development organisation had. We had planned to build a whole series of outdoor activities around it," he said.
"We wanted to set up hides for bird-watchers and walks along the edge, but these will have to be reviewed now unless the EU comes to our assistance."
BirdWatch Ireland has joined forces with the Rathowen community in condemning the drainage work which is destroying such an important habitat.
"The `maintenance' operation carried out by the OPW has caused severe damage to the wetlands which is one of the most important wintering sites for whooper swans in Ireland," said Mr Oran O'Sullivan of Birdwatch yesterday.
"The number of wintering birds has been growing at that site over the past few years and we have counts of well over 400. We understand that has fallen dramatically since the drainage."
He said he, too, found it incomprehensible that the work of one arm of the State should be damaged by another and this should not be allowed happen again.
"We know that the OPW did not consult with the National Parks and Wildlife Service before carrying out that work and this is something which will have to be done in the future," he said.