Louth communities launch new forum to fight river pollution

The Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO) launched the new Oriel Catchment Community Forum with an inaugural meeting on Monday 10th November 2025, at Kilkerley Community & Enterprise Centre, Kilkerley in Louth. 

The event marked a significant milestone in facilitating community-led participation in the protection and restoration of water quality in the Oriel catchment, which comprises the rivers Newry, Fane, Glyde and Dee. 

The Oriel Catchment Community Forum is one of five pilot river catchment projects across Ireland, established under the new River Basin Management Plan to support public involvement. The meeting was a fruitful follow-on from previous scoping meetings to figure out the most suitable format for how people from Counties Armagh, Louth and Monaghan might participate in delivering better water quality for all.  

The Oriel Catchment Community Forum is now formalised, with representatives including from Mourne Gullion Strangford Geopark, Oriel River Catchment and Coastal Association, Friends of the Earth Dundalk, ‘Fighting Dirty’, Síolta Chroí, and Dundalk Institute of Technology. 

Forum members also include representatives from local community groups, agriculture, angling and recreational interests. While the forum achieved a good sectoral balance and geographic spread, it welcomes further applications from younger people and farmers. 

The forum elected its leadership team during the meeting and discussed areas of key focus for 2026. This includes the impacts of urban and rural wastewater discharge, especially in regard to sewerage, promoting local public awareness and understanding of water quality issues and developing greater cross border action and cooperation across the Oriel Catchment. 

Members say they are focussed on taking proactive measures rather than just discussing issues. They are keen to forge relationships with their catchment counterparts in the four other pilot fora being developed in other parts of the country and to engage purposefully with all relevant stakeholders using the avenues that are now available to the Forum. 

A further meeting has been scheduled for early December where members will be able to learn how to access water monitoring data from catchments.ie as well as find out about historic Catchment Management Plans and how the Oriel, which is a cross border catchment, can interact with maps and data from the opposite side of the border. 

Andy Hallewell, Senior Community Water Officer for LAWPRO in the Border region explained: 

“The purpose of the Oriel Catchment Community Forum is to identify what the members, assisted by LAWPRO, see as the priorities for the catchment and then to develop a plan of action to address these issues.”  He emphasised that the establishment of the forum is a key action within Ireland’s Water Action Plan or River Basin Management Plan.  “This is an exciting opportunity for public participation and LAWPRO will work closely with the forum and local communities right across the Oriel Catchment to support better water quality for all.”

The forum elected Brian Hopper, a member of the environmental activism group ‘Fighting Dirty’, as its Chair and Sarpong Hammond of Dundalk Institute of Technology as its Secretary. LAWPRO will continue to provide secretariat support to the forum as agreed in the initial scoping meetings. 

Brian Hopper, the new Chair of the forum stated: “The Oriel Catchment Community Forum is uniquely placed among the five pilot Catchment Community Fora in Ireland. Nature does not recognise borders and we embrace the challenges we face working with colleagues and agencies in Northern Ireland. 

“The River Fane catchment area includes large areas in Northern Ireland as does the unique Carlingford Lough. We are lucky to have representation from the Mourne Gullion Strangford Geopark on the forum and look forward to developing effective cooperation and action. We are committed to working with LAWPRO to make a positive contribution to achieve good water quality throughout our catchment area.”

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The Oriel Catchment Community Forum is part of the Catchment Community Fora initiative, coordinated by LAWPRO. This national pilot programme works with communities to protect and improve water quality, supporting local engagement and collaboration across Ireland’s river catchments. By bringing together diverse stakeholders, the fora aim to share knowledge, identify challenges, and develop practical solutions that benefit both people and nature. 

For more information about the Oriel Catchment Community Forum and LAWPRO’s work, contact Eoghan Connaughton, LAWPRO Community Water Officer covering Louth, Monaghan and Cavan at econnaughton@lawaters.ie.