Combined efforts win ‘Greenest Community’ for Dysart River

A Westmeath project to improve the water quality in Lough Ennell – honoured recently at the Ireland’s Greenest Places Awards – has received its prize.

The Dysart River Project won the ‘Ireland’s Greenest Community’ category for 2025 at The Irish Times and Electric Ireland ‘Ireland’s Greenest Places’ competition.

It was a successful collaboration with the local farmers to implement pilot projects to improve water quality, water management, and reduced nutrient run-off into the river. The success was built on strong cooperation between the local farming community and organisations like the Lough Ennell Trout Preservation Association (LETPA).

“It’s a combination of a few years work,” David O’Malley of the LETPA said of the award, “it’s a bit like an acorn.

“It started off with Inland Fisheries Ireland asking us about putting solar pumps on some of the rivers around Lough Ennell.”

In granting the award, the judges of the Ireland’s Greenest Places competition recognised the work in improving water status, leading to a substantial turnaround from “poor” to “good” water quality in the Dysart River.

“Joan Martin, a scientific officer with Westmeath County Council at the time, asked for our help to improve the water quality on the Dysart River to enable them to get back the Blue Flag they had lost,” David explained.

To change the water quality, it was vital to win the support of one section of the community: “We approached the farmers around the lake. All of the farmers, once we explained what we were doing, got on board. None of them said no, which was great.”

Their initiatives included: Funding solar pumps to provide drinking water for cattle away from the lake, implementing improved slurry spreading techniques, and managing flash flood drainage to reduce nutrient-rich run-off into the lake.

“Initially there were six farmers, I suppose they could see the benefits of what we were doing,” David said. “We blocked off 18 cattle access points along the Dysart River from Dysart Bridge to Lough Ennell and we put in four solar pumps with 14 concrete water troughs.

“The idea was to move the cattle drinking source away from the river, up into the field, so that there wouldn’t be any damage done, either to the soil going into the river or from the cattle relieving themselves in the river.”

Support from Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) to the tune of €15,500 was the starting point.

The volunteers who undertook the project had to work out how to make the accounts balance.

Not everything was plain sailing: “We went back and talked to the farmers. Our initial plan was to put in plastic water troughs, but when we talked to the farmers, they enlightened us that they weren’t the best, so we went with concrete water troughs.

“When we repriced that, it came in at €18,500. We didn’t have enough money. Joan Martin asked Westmeath County Council if they could give us a contribution towards it, and they gave us €3,000 towards it.”

Various groups

The Dysart River Project brought together the Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO), the LETPA, IFI and community members, and by the time the plan was completed, a total of €23,500 was spent on an undertaking that has made a huge difference in the locality.

The project was showcased on the farm of David and Roisin Fay on the banks of Lough Ennell as part of the European Innovative Partnership Programme (AGRI) project, funded by the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine and the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, which focuses on-farm interventions or measures designed to protect, preserve, and improve water quality.

David O’Malley said the buy-in by farmers was vital for the success of the project:

“I have to say that the farmers were great to work with, very enthusiastic, and they appreciated what we were doing. Without the farmers, we couldn’t have done any of this work.”

Implementing the plan was down to The Dysart River Project, but David said the collaboration has had far reaching consequences: “We wouldn’t have been able to achieve what we achieved without all the support we got. On the back of it we developed a catchment management plan for Lough Ennell, Lough Owel and the Brosna system.

“We got €40,000 from Leader to develop those catchment management plans. We brought in a specialist, Alan Lauder, in conservation, who has done a similar catchment plan for Loch Leven in Scotland.”

Recognition in Ireland’s Greenest Places Awards is not the greatest achievement of The Dysart River Project: “It was a pioneering project, so it was a learning project for us as well.

“I’m sure more of the rivers around Lough Ennell will have solar pumps and on different farmers lands to improve water quality, which will also improve the spawning habitat for wild brown trout.

“Lough Ennell is one of only 13 wild brown trout fisheries left in Europe.”

Dysart River Project team receive award at Dublin event

Representatives of the Dysart River Project, already crowned Ireland’s Greenest Community 2025, received their award at an event in Dublin.

‘Ireland’s Greenest Places 2025’ was an initiative by The Irish Times in association with Electric Ireland, in which the public were invited to nominate special places or projects they believe contribute to a genuinely greener environment.

David O’Malley, chair of Lough Ennell Trout Preservation Association, accepted the award on behalf of the project at an event in Electric Ireland’s offices in Dublin, where he said: “The central issue is water quality because, quite simply, water is life. So, this award is great recognition for the LEPTA and all the groups involved in improving the water quality of the river, both for spawning brown trout and everyone who uses it and Lough Ennell.

“We’d like to thank Edel Ennis in Westmeath County Council for nominating us for the award and for all the other local groups who came together and worked together on this project, such as local farmers, Inland Fisheries Ireland, LAWPRO, Leader and Teagasc.”

“There is a template here for improving water quality in our rivers and we hope other communities will replicate it. Finally, we’d like to thank the Irish Times and Electric Ireland for hosting this competition and highlighting the great work communities are doing in contributing to a greener environment.”

Chair of the judging panel, Mary Minihan from The Irish Times, said: “One of the main objectives of this initiative was to showcase the wonderful environmental work which is taking place in communities all over the country and to share those experiences and that knowledge with others.

“No doubt winners like the Dysart River Project will find themselves being visited in the near future by other communities around the country hoping to learn from what they have achieved. We know all too well that our world is a fragile place that we need to take care of.

“And, as this competition has shown in abundance, the best place to start is in our local community.”

• irishtimes.com/greenestplaces