Duncannon to get ‘blue flag’ farming project

Wexford COUNTY Council is spearheading a €550,000 initiative aimed at improving water quality and that of bathing water in Duncannon where a blue flag farming initiative is taking place as a European Innovation Project.

The community based scheme is a collaborative initiative and will involve stakeholders from throughout the Duncannon area.

The Duncannon Blue Flag Farming and Community Scheme project was one of 12 to which funding was awarded recently under the European Innovation Partnerships (EIP) initiative of Ireland’s Rural Development Programme. The local authority in Wexford had applied for €713,379.

A spokesperson for the County Council told this newspaper that the aim of the project in Duncannon will be to restore the Blue Flag status to the beach by addressing rural sources of faecal pollution - mainly farms and septic tanks.

The County Council will use the funding to employ a full-time Assistant Agricultural Scientist and part-time Clerical Officer over a three-year period.

‘We also intend to provide annual financial incentives to the local farmers over a three-year period,’ said the spokesperson.

The group overseeing the project is led by Dr Mairead Shore, on behalf of the local authority, and includes staff from Teagasc, Glanbia, Bord Bia, Geoff Barry Agricultural Consultants, and an IFA Rep.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed TD, announced the EIP funding for the project in December with €11m being provided nationally.

He said the 12 projects will deliver ‘ novel solutions’ to challenges facing the Irish agri-food sector and the rural economy. He also said the selection process was ‘exceptionally competitive’ and that the chosen projects offer great potential.

In addition to the Duncannon project a sustainable farming initiative, Blackstairs Farming Futures, on the Carlow-Wexford border was also successful in its application.

Another provincial project that was awarded funding is the Enable Conservation Tillage project which is aimed at promoting wider adoption of sustainable conservation tillage farming in the agricultural sector.