We don't want a ‘Goo Lagoon’: Greens sound alarm with Taoiseach on pollution at Wexford’s Lady’s Island Lake

Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman today (Wednesday 18th June) urged the Taoiseach to direct the Minister for Agriculture to urgently address the destruction of Ireland’s largest saltwater lagoon, Lady’s Island Lake in Co Wexford.

Speaking at Leaders Questions in the Dáil, Deputy O’Gorman said: “The EPA could not be clearer in their recent report: the large discharge into the lagoon’s waters of nutrient run-off has caused a serious destruction of normal animal and plant life. Blooms of algae, similar to that causing the ongoing destruction of Lough Neagh, have rendered the normal ecosystem utterly dysfunctional.

“Instead of a thriving ecosystem supporting an array of life, including migratory terns, and an outstanding natural amenity; we’re going to end up with a useless toxic sludge; a Goo Lagoon.

“This is not some new environmental catastrophe. This has been a problem in the making for over forty years. A problem that has been allowed to continue. And all the various enforcement and accountability mechanisms we have in our State - local authority inspections, Teagasc, the Good Agriculture Practice regulation - all the States mechanisms have failed to protect Lady’s Island Lake. 

“We need cross-Government action now, led by the Minister for Agriculture, to reverse this destruction, restore the lagoon and properly manage the ecosystem into the future; working closely with and supporting farmers to make positive changes. This can start with a three point approach:

• Enforce Existing Regulations about agricultural nutrients entering the lake

• Help and support farmers to change farming practices 

• Improve the buffer zones around the water sources flowing into the lake 

“Without this immediate action, we risk losing this precious ecosystem, one of only two saltwater lagoons in Ireland. I don’t believe the Taoiseach will want this to happen on his watch.”