Ireland Says ‘Feck Off’ to Super-Size Salmon Feedlot in Galway Bay

Residents on Inis Oírr (Inisheer) in the Aran Islands are fighting the Irish Government's colossally stupid proposal for a 15,000 tonne "organic" salmon farm in Galway Bay.

Watch the video report online here

Inis Oírr is the location of the fictional Craggy Island made famous by the TV series Father Ted - featuring foul-mouthed Father Jack.

"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."

"I'm concerned about the waters around the beach," continued Ruairi O Cualain. "I'm sure it's going to be polluted. The last time we had a farm here we had sea urchins growing off the coast of Inis Oírr - they all disappeared afterwards. I do some lobster fishing and I'm concerned that would be wiped out. This could be the worst thing that ever happened to Inis Oírr. I've an awful fear that this could ruin the waters around Inis Oírr for generations."

"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."

Watch video report online via ““Feck off” to fish farms in Galway Bay”

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."

"What I'm concerned about is the quality of the Environmental Impact Statement that has been released by BIM," continued Dr. O'Sullivan. "Quite frankly, of all the Environmental Impact Statements that I've seen this is almost a work of fiction because it doesn't cover any of the worries or the concerns that the islanders would have both from their environment and their standards of living."

Read BIM's Environmental Impact Statement online here

"If you take into considerationthe 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," concluded Dr. O'Sullivan. "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."