The residents of Inis Oírr, the smallest of the three Aran Islands in Galway Bay, refuse to back down in their fight against a proposal by the Irish Government for the the world's largest "organic" salmon farm. Inis Oírr is the location of the fictional Craggy Island made famous
by the TV series Father Ted - featuring foul-mouthed Father Jack.
Earth Island Journal reported (1 May) on the growing opposition on Craggy Island:
"We're really concerned about the process of this, where it's essentially being imposed on us by the minister and his agents," says Enda Conneely, one of Inis Oirr's 249 inhabitants.
"We have the same customers coming back for the last 20 years, and they don't want this," says Enda Conneely, who runs a guesthouse and restaurant on Inis Oírr. "You go out to the Aran Islands to go away from industrial scale farming."
Read more via "Plans for Massive Salmon Farm in Ireland’s Galway Bay Run Into Troubled Waters"
If 'Notes from a Small Island' author Bill Bryson paid the small island a visit he would find the whole island united in opposition against the super-sized salmon farm.
"I'm dead against a farm coming onto the coast of Inis Oírr," said local fisherman Ruairi O Cualain . "We had a farm here about twenty years ago and we couldn't eat the mackerel that was swimming around the bay. This one's going to be thirty times the size of it."
Watch video report via ““Feck off” to fish farms in Galway Bay” and read more background via Ireland Says ‘Feck Off’ to Super-Size Salmon Feedlot in Galway Bay
"If you take into consideration the last farm that was sited here, the Bradán Feasa - the biggest salmon farm in Ireland - and it was wrecked by the seas because the weather here is incredible," said Dr. Roderick O'Sullivan durign a visit to Inis Oírr. "Look at this ship here - it's been driven up on these rocks. What chance the farms have when the storms really break here is highly debatable."
Speaking on Inis Oírr, overlooking the proposed site and the world-famous Cliffs of Moher, Dr. Roderick O'Sullivan pointed to the dangers of the 15,000 tonne farm:
"One must remember that it's the biggest salmon farm certainly in Europe if not the world," said Dr. O'Sullivan. "And it's going to be discharging a tremendous amount of waste, fish faeces and uneaten food. It's going to have a very deleterious effect on water quality and the living organisms in this bay."
Watch video report online via “Dr. O’Sullivan on Salmon Farm Insanity in Galway Bay, Ireland”
"The more knowledge we get on this the more people we're getting against it," said another local resident. "We're concerned at the way BIM are handling it and giving us a whole load of lies. They're not being truthful and we don't trust them. People should know about it. We have to fight this and stand up for our cause and take the power back."
"I don't think it should be here," said another local resident. "And I can tell you that half of Connemara is very much against a massive big sludge producing factory out in the middle of the feckin' bay. It's not good. It's not good for us. I don't see 500 jobs. And 500 jobs is not equal to 500,000 tourists who are not going to come."
Read more via "Gathering Ireland Against Salmon Farming" and "Ireland Says ‘Feck Off’ to Super-Size Salmon Feedlot in Galway Bay"
For more news on Ireland's fight against salmon farming read:
“44 sea lice per salmon at Marine Harvest Ireland farm”
“Boycott Irish Organic Farmed Salmon”
“Lice-Infested Irish Salmon (Continued)!”
“Sea lice levels high in local fish farms – reports show breaches of sea lice levels in Donegal”
“Fish farm proposals - Coveney has to listen to objections”
Watch video reports online here!
Watch “Message to Norwegian Embassy in Dublin: Fish Farms Out!”
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