Rosscarbery IFA held a recent meeting in the Celtic Ross Hotel on the topic of Farming for Water, an AGRI-Environmental Programme designed to improve water quality and supported by the European Innovation Programme.
The meeting on Monday, January 20th heard a detailed presentation from Liam Bohane from Carbery on the Farming for Water programme.
He outlined the measures farmers can take to safeguard water quality and surface water from farms and the supports available to farmers.
John Beechinor, environmental representative from the West Cork Executive of IFA said consultations are being held at national level with the EPA and county councils on the topic of farmer commitment to water quality.
He said inadequate treatment plants for urban development was an issue for farmers.
The meeting also welcomed students from Mount St Michael Secondary School who presented their projects from the BT Young Scientist competition.
The students were accompanied by their teachers, Bernie Power and Alan O’
Rourke.
Adam Baker and Vincent Daly presented their project on ‘Fingerprinting Water and Determining its Age to Help Improve the Quality of Our Rivers’, which won an award in the senior category.
Meanwhile Anna Brinkman and Orla McCarthy gave insight on their project ‘Tidal Contamination: The Effects of Tidal Estuaries on Water Quality of Local Beaches‘.
The organisers, branch chairman, Fergal Harte and Secretary, Tim Hurley were very pleased with the attendance which also included West Cork Executive officers, secretary Catherine O Sullivan, PRO Ronald Shorten and incoming environmental representative Micheal Looney.
