Kids left traumatised after discovering dead fish in Co Antrim river

James Martin McCarthy
·2-min read
Kids left traumatised after discovering dead fish in Co Antrim river


A number of children have been left traumatised after they discovered several fish dying and struggling to breathe in a Co Antrim river following a suspected pollution event.

The Northern Ireland Environment Agency are investigating the incident which is the latest in a number of similar incidents to impact the fishing stock in the Glenavy River which is a tributary to Lough Neagh.

Children from a nearby youth club raised the alarm when they discovered multiple fish either dead or dying in the river on Wednesday night.

Read more: Investigation launched into pollution incident in East Belfast river

Read more: The Earth's Corr: Finally we have an environment minister who gives a sh*t about pollution

Speaking to Belfast Live at the scene, Tony McCormick from the Glenavy Conservation and Angling Club described the devastation that met him when he got to the river.

"For the past 40 years, this river has suffered pollution and we believe that the entities responsible are not prosecuted in any way sufficiently to prevent them from doing it again.

"Unfortunately for us and the fish in the river, the incident occurred at a time of extremely low water. There is absolutely no flow in the river and whatever effluence has entered the water has been able to sit in a very high concentrated spot.

"Unfortunately, quite harrowingly for a group of children in the youth club, they witnessed the fish dying and struggling for breath in the river which quite upset them."

Tony said is is estimated that around three to four hundred could have been impacted on one stretch of the river alone.

"The last incident they recon there were 1,800 fish killed and this could possibly reach the same numbers," he said.

Local councillor Gary McCleave said that this is the latest incident which could impact the nearby Lough Neagh.

"This is the second major incident, in recent years, the last being in 2020," he said.

"There will most certainly be hundreds of fish dead in this incident and I will be contacting NIEA in the coming days to be kept up to date on the investigation. As rivers like this continue to be affected and the wildlife impacted by pollution incidents, we also need to keep in mind that this is another incident that will see raw pollution enter Lough Neagh exacerbating the crisis we are facing there."

A NIEA spokesperson said: "At 19.20 hrs on Wednesday 12 June 2024, Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) received a report of water pollution in the Glenavy River, in Co Antrim.

"The report stated that the river was polluted for several miles and that there were a number of fish in distress. The NIEA immediately deployed two Water Quality Inspectors to the area to confirm the report and to assess the environmental impact.

"Officers have confirmed a fish kill and remain on site assessing the extent of the incident and conducting an investigation to determine the possible source of the pollution."

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