Ireland’s rivers, lakes and coastal waters are a proud heritage and a rich resource. Their beauty and bounty have been enjoyed by natives and visitors, humankind and wildlife alike for millennia. The pleasure and enjoyment that a clean, unspoilt, natural stretch of water can bring is difficult to quantify, but we rely on this image for much of our tourism and it is an image that is fading for many of our waters.

We’ve been lucky in Ireland. High rainfall, low population density and little industry have meant that our waters have remained some of the cleanest in Europe. But Ireland is changing. We can no longer take this precious resource for granted. There has been a serious drop in water quality in Ireland over the past thirty years. Economic growth, burgeoning industry and intensive farming have combined to pollute the clean, abundant waters for which Ireland is renowned.

But help is at hand. Radical new EU legislation has been put in place to protect Europe’s waters. The Water Framework Directive may sound like just another piece of EU jargon but don’t let the name put you off. This is one of the most progressive and exciting pieces of environmental legislation to emerge from the EU. If it is implemented properly, it has the potential to put an end to all major water pollution in Ireland. Yes, it sounds incredible. But the Sustainable Water Network (SWAN) believes that with awareness and involvement from communities and ordinary people throughout the country, it is possible.

SWAN is a network of twenty-four of Ireland’s leading environmental organisations working together to ensure that the Water Framework Directive does indeed deliver for Ireland’s many water bodies. To find out more about SWAN, Ireland’s waters and the Water Framework Directive, read on