Project Implementation in Ireland

Below we describe actions that we will take in South East Ireland to meet each of the six Joint Project objectives and to achieve their key outcome Milestones. Many of the actions will be carried out in collaboration with our partners in Wales, partly because we will be drawing upon their expertise in areas where their experience is greater than our own, and partly also to achieve benefits of economy of scale or, in many instances, where we need do something only once to achieve benefits for both cross-border Regions.

At the end of this section, we describe our plans for managing the project, and in Section 8 we set out the funding and manpower resources necessary for its implementation.

1. Developing Community Capacity via the Rivers Trust Network
This objective will be met by:

a) Developing a Slaney River Trust based on the experience in this area of its Welsh partners and of the Association of Rivers Trusts. The Slaney River Trust aims to raise capital from the private sector and other sources to provide continued employment for the Project Officer after the end of the Joint Project and to enable us to continue our long - term development plans. The work of maintaining, protecting and promoting the environment of the Slaney Valley will continue for the benefit of all in the Valley as well as visitors.
MILESTONE Slaney River Trust formally established by June 2005

b) Customising and promoting training and educational material from CFB, Association of Rivers Trusts and Llandysul Angling Association and making it available to community groups, schools and colleges in the Slaney Valley with support from CFB's Teacher Training programme.
MILESTONE Promotional material, in printed and/or electronic form, in use by first three beneficiary groups by 31 July 2005.

c) Organising a Rivers Trust development workshop in the Slaney Valley, where experts in this field can share best practice and develop approaches to addressing new problems/opportunities/funding streams.
MILESTONE. A Rivers Trust development workshop, with invited experts from Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England, to be held in the Slaney Valley by 28 February 2007

2. Broadening Community Commitment and Access to the River Environment
This objective will be met by:

d) Encouraging use of The Slaney Drive - a network of minor public roads that provide access to the Slaney Valley - by publicising the benefits via SADAL's website, in news media and at tourist access points. The Slaney Drive is little used by tourists and visitors because of lack of publicity. The publicity via printed brochures and/or the Internet and other electronic media will focus on community life in the Valley, its wildlife including fish, and accommodation and restaurant facilities; it will also identify points of access to the river, picnic sites, nature trails in the woods, and hill walks in the Slaney Valley. The financial projections include an amount of €10,000 to develop, as a pilot project, a wildlife observation platform with facilities for the disabled in the Valley in 2005/06.
MILESTONE 500 brochures distributed to tourist access points via SERTA by 31 March 2005. An electronic version of the brochure will be available on the website by the same date.

e) Fostering active links with groups supporting disadvantaged young people and with other community groups, schools, colleges, providing environmental learning materials by customising resources contributed by SADAL's partners; organising and publicising opportunities for field visits that promote understanding and enjoyment through positive, practical experience designed to bring subjects to life.
MILESTONE Learning resources distributed in printed and/or electronic form to at least three beneficiary groups by 30 September 2006

f) Encouraging and training individuals and groups to get involved in the process of river and habitat improvement, especially where this will encourage them to care for stretches of the river associated with their own locality. Instructional materials will be used to train them to monitor the state of rivers for early signs of pollution and advise on how action should be taken in the event of a pollution incident. The ERFB Environment Officer will have a significant role to play in the training process here.
MILESTONE At least three group courses completed by June 2005 and a further two courses per year in 2006 and 2007.

3. Environmental Improvements via Agricultural Best Practice
This objective will be met by:

g) Using the Westcountry Rivers Trust's best-practice training and guidance, and working with ERFB officials and farmer representatives on ERFB, to help farmers in the Slaney Valley adopt 'best practice' protection of riparian land. Remedial work will be undertaken by CFB/ERFB operatives (see assumptions in s. 8.3 below). We will work with Agri-Net Works Interreg IIIA Project - a partnership of Antur Teifi and The Irish Farmers' Association.
MILESTONE 10 farm visits completed and written recommendations provided to the landowners by 31 December 2005

4. Conservation and Enhancement of Fish Stocks
This objective will be met by:

h) Promoting catch-and-release of salmon, trout and sea trout throughout the Slaney Valley
MILESTONE: Promotional material, already prepared by CFB, distributed to all angling clubs and fisheries in the Slaney Valley and available via the website by March 2005
MILESTONE: publicising via the website, accurate counts of salmon catches to encourage catch-and-release by March 2005

i) Establish a programme of riparian habitat protection so that the spawning streams produce more juvenile salmon and provide enhanced habitats for insects, fish, amphibians and riparian mammals as well as the scenic beauty of diverse flora that are native to the Slaney Valley. The programme will also include work to repair severe bank erosion in the main channel of the river and a pilot project will be undertaken to remove alien plants such as Himalayan Balsam where they are displacing native vegetation and causing bank erosion. CFB have agreed to make available an expert on river restoration and a botanist, and ERFB have agreed to make available a team of operatives to carry out the work. See s. 8.3 below for further background. The Project Officer will be involved in this work and will organise volunteers from local communities to assist in the work and receive formal training from the CFB/ERFB specialists.
MILESTONE: Two miles of key spawning streams and three miles of main channel surveyed and work commenced on restoration by 30 September 2005.

j) Ensure that decisions on priorities for conservation are based on real measures of effectiveness.MILESTONE: Restore to full effectiveness the fish counter at Clohamon Weir to allow an indicative count of the salmon stock in the river by 31 March 2005.

5. Developing and Marketing of Angling Tourism Opportunities
This objective will be met by:

k) The SADAL website will be in English and will have an option to retrieve the most important pages in Gaelic. There will be a home page, describing the Celtic Rivers Trust Partnership, linked to the Welsh website. The website will also link to complementary activities in South East Ireland and West Wales outside the immediate area of the Joint Project such as golf, sea angling, equestrian holidays, hill walking etc. The Project Officer will work closely with our partner, SERTA, in developing this programme.

The website will show illustrative materials of women and disabled people taking part in fishing. All fishery owners and angling clubs on the Slaney that have expressed an interest in benefiting from this marketing initiative will be included.
MILESTONE: Tourist information, particularly ERFB's detailed Guide to Fishing in South East Ireland, available on the website by 31 January 2005
MILESTONE: Details of at least three fishing and other holiday package providers in South East Ireland included on the Web-based marketing system by 31 March 2006
MILESTONE: ERFB Guide to Fishing in South East Ireland distributed to 20 angling clubs in Wales by 31 January 2005 with promotion of the Celtic Rivers Trust Partnership.

l) Providing training courses for fishery owners/clubs and individuals based upon CFB's experience in running similar courses and with assistance from CERT (the State Tourism Training Agency) who have developed a Marine and Countryside Guiding Programme for Game Angling.
MILESTONE: Three training courses provided in the Slaney Valley by 31 December 2005

m) Arranging 'Conservation and Learn-to-Fish Days' in the Slaney Valley for local people and tourists, with the aim of introducing, in particular, young people, women, those with disabilities, and other disadvantaged groups and individuals to the water environment. The events will cover practical instruction on all aspects of angling including conservation of stocks. These events will benefit from CFB (their Fishing Instructor will be available for this part of the Project) and ERFB experience in this area as well as that of our partners in West Wales, where Llandysul Angling Association has been holding Young Conservationists days since 1997.
MILESTONE: Two Conservation and Learn-to-Fish Days will be held in the Slaney Valley in each year of the Joint Project.

6. Building Capacity and Commitment of Communities to Protecting their Rivers
This objective will be met by:n) The Project Officer and community volunteers will work with the ERFB's Environmental Officer. The Environmental Officer will spend additional time in the Slaney Valley. Part of this additional time will be spent training and part on advising SADAL on the implications of upcoming EU legislation such as the Water Framework Directive, which will have an important role in enabling the communities of the Slaney Valley to monitor and improve water quality. He or she will also set up and operate a monitoring programme focussing on acidification and water abstraction in the upper Slaney catchment, illegal waste dumps in the headwaters area in Co. Wicklow and eutrophication in the river around and below Enniscorthy. This programme will also be supported by Trinity College, Dublin's Dept. Of Zoology, which has expertise in the study of water quality in forested catchments and their effect on fish biology. Professor Peter Wilson of the Dept. of Zoology, who is Vice Chairman of SADAL, will be able to use his expertise and contacts to assist this programme. CHERE which has specialists in the problems of upland stream acidification will also be able to assist.
MILESTONE: Project Officer and five community volunteers capable of carrying out essential monitoring, and taking emergency appropriate action if necessary, by 31 December 2006.

Managing the Project
The project will be managed as follows:o) A full-time Project Officer will be hired for an initial three-year period to co-ordinate the Project in Ireland. In particular his or her duties will include: liaison with our Wales and Ireland partners, local communities and farmers; implementation of the action plans and milestones described above; provision of educational, training and public relations services; management of the website; development of innovative community initiatives; maintaining close liaison and regular communication with the Project Officer in Wales. A detailed Job Specification is attached.

p) A small Project Management Board, involving the principal Irish partners, will be set up to direct the local element of the Joint Project, set its strategy, supervise and support the Project Officer, monitor compliance with Interreg standards and disburse funds. It will meet at least five times per year. If required, experts on ICT, Equal Opportunities and Environmental Sustainability will be asked to attend meetings. The Project Management Board will meet with the equivalent Board from Wales, once per year in Ireland and once per year in Wales to exchange information, knowledge and experience.

q) Generally, the Project Coordinators and Project Officers plan to hold regular conference calls to discuss the progress of the Joint Project via email, telephone and / or video conferencing, as appropriate.

r) Once a Slaney River Trust has been formed and has established a network of contacts within the Slaney Valley, the Project Management Board will advise the trustees on the best options for engaging the broader community in its environmental protection work.