{"id":635131,"date":"2026-09-25T01:24:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T01:24:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/635131\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T01:24:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T01:24:10","slug":"lough-derg-getting-worse-after-public-advisory-issued-over-algal-bloom-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/635131\/","title":{"rendered":"Lough Derg \u2018getting worse\u2019 after public advisory issued over algal bloom \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Tipperary<\/a> councillor has warned that the condition of Lough Derg is \u201cgetting worse\u201d after the council issued an advisory to the public over the presence of a potentially harmful algal bloom on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Tipperary County Council<\/a> warned the public to \u201cexercise caution\u201d at Lough Derg, the third-biggest lake on the island of Ireland, with shores in counties Tipperary, Clare and Galway.<\/p>\n

Inspections this week showed \u201csignificant blooms\u201d in different areas of the lake, the council said, though local independent councillor S\u00e9amie Morris said it had been \u201cbuilding\u201d for weeks.<\/p>\n

The blue-green algae bloom can produce harmful toxins, the council said, adding that contact should be avoided as it can cause skin irritation. It can also be fatal to dogs if ingested.<\/p>\n

The council, which said it consulted with the HSE on the matter, warned the public to keep \u201call animals, especially dogs, away from the affected area\u201d.<\/p>\n

Algal bloom, which can resemble scum or paint, forms during hot weather, though nutrient pollution, particularly phosphorus and nitrogen, often deriving from agricultural runoff and wastewater discharges, is the main driver.<\/p>\n

Morris, who was one of the founders of advocacy group River Shannon Environmental Protection Alliance, said the latest blooms are \u201cnot a surprise\u201d, adding that he had been seeing it \u201cbuilding up\u201d in recent weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s bad enough. It was a perfect storm in a way with the lack of water, nitrates and lack of wind,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Ireland\u2019s \u2018best rivers\u2019 continue to deteriorate in water qualityOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

He said there had been a \u201cconsistent amount\u201d of algal bloom on different areas of the lake \u201con and off all summer\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s consistent now. It\u2019s happening every year, and it\u2019s getting worse. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s quite clear that the condition of the lake is getting worse. We\u2019re heading towards Lough Neagh,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Blue-greenBlue-green algae on Lough Neagh near Cookstown, Co Tyrone, in August 2025. Photograph: Niall Carson\/PA Wire <\/p>\n

Lough Neagh, Ireland and the UK\u2019s largest freshwater lake by surface area, has been blighted by blooms in recent summers<\/a>, which has been attributed to excess nutrients from wastewater and agriculture.<\/p>\n

Morris believes nitrogen removal should have been incorporated into the recently upgraded wastewater treatment plant at Ballina, Co Tipperary.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re getting more and more algal blooms, and that\u2019s because of the nitrates in the water. There\u2019s no point in consistently blaming farmers over this because that\u2019s what they\u2019re allowed to do.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Data centres \u2018may have used as much water\u2019 as more than 340,000 homes last yearOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the fact that they\u2019re [Uisce \u00c9ireann<\/a>] actually building new plants, particularly in Ballina, which is an extremely sensitive area, without putting nitrates treatment in is crazy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur rivers are in serious trouble. Our rivers are dying. I will be calling on the counties to come together in the Midwest to ask Uisce \u00c9ireann to put nitrates treatment into all our plants,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The public advisory issued by the council on Thursday was effective immediately and will last until Monday, September 28th.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Tipperary councillor has warned that the condition of Lough Derg is \u201cgetting worse\u201d after the council issued…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":635132,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[15469,246,4500,61,60,197485,82,9123,21351,776],"class_list":["post-635131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-clare","tag-environment","tag-galway","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-lough-neagh","tag-science","tag-tipperary","tag-tipperary-county-council","tag-uisce-eireann"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/635131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=635131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/635131\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/635132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=635131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=635131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=635131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}