Cllr Kieran McCarthy has asked Irish Water that Ballybrack Woods stream needs to be protected more from pollution outbreaks as witnessed in recent weeks. Cllr McCarthy noted: “I was very disappointed to see the pollution outbreak in the stream. Much work has been done by volunteers such as Douglas Tidy Towns, citizens environment activists and Cork City Council to protect this gem of a green space within the heart of Donnybrook”.

 “Irish Water has got back to me and have completed their site investigation; the water quality is back to normal and whoever the culprit was and has stopped pouring a chemical or chemicals into the stream. Many thanks to everyone for raising the pollution incident so quickly. Irish Water at this point have not formally discovered who the culprit was, so one needs to be legally careful on naming anyone.  I’d ask though that all users of the woods and the Mangala just keep an eye out for future pollution incidents and report them just as fast”, concluded Cllr McCarthy.

In correspondence to Cllr McCarthy, Irish Water confirmed that a site inspection of the wastewater infrastructure was undertaken in the Calderwood/Ballybrack area on 7 July following Irish Water receiving this report. The wastewater infrastructure at Calderwood Road and the Ballybrack Walkway were inspected and was observed to be operating normally. A full walk through check of the Ballybrack Stream was undertaken – there was no evidence of pollution (no gross solids, no ragging, no evidence of third party discharges) on the date of the visit.

The wastewater network was inspected along the route of the pollution incident. This was observed to be operating normally. In addition, a member of the public advised the team during the site visit that construction work in the area may be the cause as they had observed similar incidents over recent weeks. From these investigations Irish Water have noted: “it would appear that the most likely source of this issue would appear to be related to third party activity in the area. However Irish Water are unable to formally confirm this issue”. The wastewater infrastructure in the area is fully operational and is operating normally.

8 July 2021, “Local Councillor Kieran McCarthy said sites such as the Atlantic Pond must be protected from all forms of chemicals. ‘It is good news in the long run to see new measures being put in place to protect waterways such as the Atlantic Pond’, Procedural oversight’ blamed for Cork beauty spot being sprayed with weedkiller, https://www.echolive.ie/corknews/arid-40332203.html

Kieran’s Quote:

“It is good news in the long run to see new measures being put in place to protect waterways such as the Atlantic Pond. There is quite an array of bird diversity at the pond and I always feel the location is often an under appreciated blue space for the wider city. On any given day, there are many people who walk around the pond and you’d often see people snapping photos of the birdlife in the pond especially the cygnets and herons. There is large local interest in the condition of the Pond. I continue to lobby for information panels and seasonally arranged nature walks.

The Atlantic Pond and Cork Lough possess the widest variety of freshwater species. Apart from being a really important blue space for bird diversity, the Atlantic Pond is also an important green space due to its adjacent woodland for many woodland bird species too. More and more at City Council level, we are hearing when green space and blue space exist side by side, species richness and abundance grows. So sites like the Atlantic Pond need to be protected more from all forms of chemicals”.