In the News

An Bord Pleanála refuses Dawn Meats planning permission to discharge waste water into the Boyne River SPA and SAC

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An Bord Pleanála refuses Dawn Meats planning permission to discharge waste water into the Boyne River SPA and SAC 〰️

Dawn Meats plan to discharge water into Boyne denied on appeal

'The Boyne has significant meaning to all its people who share its shores and waterways'

RTE

Decision to allow Dawn Meats discharge water into Boyne overturned

Plans for pipeline to discharge waste water into the River Boyne refused

LMFM 95.8 Radio

An Bord Pleanála reject Meath Co Co's decision to allow Dawn Meats to discharge wastewater into River Boyne

James Bond is mad about the Boyne: campaign against abbatoir effluent plan benefits from Pierce Brosnan’s support

An Bord Pleanála has overturned council decision to grant permission for Dawn Meats abbatoir to offload 400,000 litres of treated wastewater into the river every day

Drogheda Life, January 18, 2023

"...in support of recent campaigns such as “Save the Boyne”, TDs Ged Nash and Elaine McGinty set to present a new Bill to the Dáil to form Boyne Task Force. - Read On

Does the new Planning Legislation seek to increase green lighting of development without environmental or community checks and balances?

Catherine Connolly speaking on the Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022.

Key News Items

Boyne Task Force? Why aren’t the NPWS, LAWPRO, UNESCO, EPA, An Taisce and MCC enough to enforce the EU Water Framework Directive and protect Ireland’s SPA’s, SAC’s and World Heritage Sites during climate change?

Planning and Development

Irish Times, January 26, 2023

“What this Bill presents is a significant erosion of the public’s right to access justice and participate fully in the Irish planning process,” Dr McGoff said, adding that An Taisce’s view was it was “primarily an appeasement of developers and a facilitation of developer-led planning.”

Groundwater Abstraction and EU Court Case:

Until December of 2022, groundwater legislation only required registration with the EPA of ‘over 25 cubic metres per day’ but with no fees as associated with drinking water from the utility service nor did it require changes in registration should abstraction increase, for example, from 40 to 400 cubic metres per day.

In spite of the passing of new groundwater abstraction rules, replacing the 1942 Act, Ireland has been turned over to the EU Courts with this gesture being considered perhaps 20 years worth of too little, too late.

EU Commission Press Release, January 26, 2023
Water: Commission decides to refer IRELAND to the Court of Justice for failing to correctly transpose Water Framework Directive protecting waters from pollution

What did we know? SWAN REPORT, 2020 - Water Abstraction: Interactions with the Water Framework Directive & Groundwater Directive and Implications for the Status of Ireland’s Waters

Eco Eye on Irish waters - Why aren’t they safer, cleaner and more protected than 20 years ago when the Water Framework Directive was announced? WATCH NOW 

  • Dismay and anger over decision to allow meat plant discharge waste water into the Boyne

    Meath Chronicle, Fri 29 Apr 2022

    The Save the Boyne group has expressed its dismay at a decision by Meath County Council to grant permission to Dawn Meats permitting them to discharge commercial waste water into the Boyne.

  • Dawn Meats permitted to discharge abattoir wastewater into River Boyne

    FarmersJournal.ie, April 30, 2022

    Dawn Meats has secured permission from Meath County Council to construct a treated wastewater pipeline to the River Boyne.

  • Ireland is facing a water quality crisis that needs to be reversed

    Irish Examiner, March 31, 2022

    Plans to work with nature so as to protect and improve water quality are coming to the fore.

  • Locals fight for “human rights” of Boyne River near Newgrange under threat of pollution

    Irish Central, 10 Apr, 2021

    "For us, the Boyne is more than just a river, it’s part of what it means to be Irish," Dainow said.

  • Campaign to protect historic River Boyne from meat processing plant wastewater

    Drogheda Life, 18 July, 2022

    Residents of towns and villages in the historic Boyne Valley region, famed for its rich heritage and flora and fauna, were appalled recently when Meath County Council granted permission to a meat processing company to dispose of 400,000 litres of waste water into the historic river every day.