Former county hurling manager escalates dispute with Limerick City and County Council

FORMER Limerick hurling manager Tom Ryan has said he will block a waterway from entering his land, as part of a long-standing dispute with Limerick City and County Council.

Mr Ryan, a dairy farmer based in Ballynoe, Mungret, has long raised concerns about what he described as "pollution and severe flooding" coming from Raheen Industrial Estate onto his land.

He has said when the industrial estate was formed, the council created a canal on Loughmore Common to take surplus water off the industrial estate, which he says is "contaminating" his land.

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Speaking to the Limerick Leader in 2022, Mr Ryan said: “There is a large pipe coming from the industrial estate. It goes under the road and flows into Loughmore Canal. At the end of the canal, which is a massive trench, it joins the Barnakyle stream on my land. It is like the Mississippi flowing into the River Loobagh in Kilmallock – you have a huge canal flowing into a small stream."

He has also alleged pollution in an outflow of water from the canal, which leaves the estate, has affected the health of his cattle.

The Raheen Industrial Estate houses a large number of multi-national firms, which employ thousands of workers.

Mr Ryan has appealed against many of the council's decisions to approve changes, or expansions of factories in the industrial estate which adjoin his land.

There are still a number of cases active with An Coimisiún Pleanála, formerly An Bord Pleanala, for which the farmer is an appellant. On top of this, he has also objected to new housing and a nursing home in Patrickswell.

Mr Ryan had High Court proceedings dismissed earlier this year over a planning application made by a company in the Raheen Industrial Estate to extend its footprint there.

In an email to Vincent Murray, Limerick City and County Council's director of planning and placemaking, Mr Ryan has warned of his plan to block the waterway, which he says will take place this Monday, September 8.

Mr Ryan said he sent the email - seen by Limerick Live - on Monday, August 25.

He said he received a response from council this Friday, which he has himself replied to. He confirmed as things stand, he is still going ahead with the action.

"I am sending your pollution back," he stated in the original email.

"On Monday, September 8 next, I have a contractor booked and the materials ordered to block the Loughmore Canal where it enters my land. It should back up under the Caher Road quickly and then up to the outfall from the Raheen Industrial Estate. Where it goes, I really don't care, but it won't be coming down to me," he wrote.

In the email, he wrote he was giving council the time to alert houses in the vicinity, businesses in the Raheen Industrial Estate and the nursing home in Patrickswell.

"Tom Ryan is taking no more pollution," he added. "This is not an idle threat".

Limerick City and County Council says it is not in a position to comment when contacted by Limerick Live.

RTE's Prime Time broadcast an investigation into Mr Ryan's claims back in December 2022.

At the time, the local authority provided information on its sampling of the water from the canal.

"Limerick City and County Council’s sampling analysis, carried out over the course of this year, include an extensive suite of parameters and a broad spectrum of elements. Previous sampling results in 2021 did not highlight any evidence of exceedances in relation to ammonia and any recorded exceedances in 2022 were inconsistent and did not indicate any pattern or relate to any samples within the Business Park. Additionally our sampling results to date have not highlighted any exceedances in hydrocarbons. Our regulatory body, the EPA have been regularly briefed on the progress of this case by LCCC and on the direction of the investigation and this will continue to be the situation going forward," a spokesperson stated.