Volunteers get their hands dirty cleaning up iconic Fermoy weir
ONE of Fermoy’s most iconic structures has undergone a major clean-up courtesy of a group of volunteers from the Blackwater Sub Aqua Club.
Following a request from the Fermoy municipal authority members of the club last Saturday took to the River Blackwater with the initial intention of removing accumulated debris from the fish pass on the town weir.
Club spokesman Kenneth Barry said district officer Pauline Moriarty had contacted them following a request from Inland Fisheries Ireland who were concerned that the accumulation of tress and other debris in the pass was impeding the passage of fish.
“As the local fire service does not have the equipment needed to remove the debris, Pauline asked the club it we would be willing to do the job,” said Mr Barry.
He said that once the team were in the river with their boats, they said they might as well go the whole hog and spent the day cleaning up the entire weir on both sides of Fermoy Bridge.
“We could see that the area from the triangle field on the north bank to O’Neill Crowley Quay and the access to the Mill Race was in need of a good clean up, so we stuck at it for the day,” said Mr Barry.
“The visual impact of the work is obvious for all to see and will make life that little bit easier for migrating fish. It goes to show what can be achieved by a dedicated handful of volunteers over a few hours, in a single day,” he added.
Confusion still surrounds the future of the weir, which hit the headlines a number of years ago following a government proposal to replace it with a dedicated fish pass – sparking protest marches through the town.
Plans were subsequently drawn up for a new fish pass on the northern side of the river, but that has yet to come to fruition.
While Ms Moriarty was not available to comment on any future plans for the weir, Mr Barry said it was his understanding that repair works on the fish pass were meant to have taken place this year.
“It is my understanding that these work have now been put back until the spring of next year, when the water levels in the Blackwater have gone down to safe levels,” he said.