Unexplained brown discolouration of Mayo river is being investigated

On Friday afternoon, The Mall River in Westport was discoloured and had an unexplained brown tinge.

The river runs through the popular tourist town, with many people using the public benches by the river to relax and take in the scenery. 

In correspondence with The Mayo News, Mayo County Council has stated that both the Council themselves and Inland Fisheries Ireland 'will continue to investigate' the matter.

It noted that as of Monday, "the Carrow Beg River is clear, and there is no longer any evidence of pollution." 

Earlier this summer, a stainless steel art installation in The Mall River in Westport was displayed to provoke a conversation about what clean rivers in Mayo look like.

Eithne Larkin from Westport Tidy Towns explained at the time that there has been confusion for a number of years over who is managing the river.

Part of the experiment with the art installation was to see “if nobody is managing the river, what happens if we put something into it? Well, we might find out who’s managing the river.”

As previously reported by The Mayo News, Mayo County Council have stated they are not in charge of the Mall river – the section of the Carrowbeg River which goes through Westport’s Mall. Inland Fisheries Ireland have done likewise. The OPW do not appear to be in charge while it has not been ruled out that it could be in private ownership.

The Mall River's wellbeing has proved controversial in the recent past. In 2022, the partial removal of silt islands in the river split opinion locally.