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Heritage Week 2019 – celebrating water and our connections to it

Heritage Week took place this year from 17- 25 August. The theme this year was ’Pastimes|Past Times’. Events took place all around the country, culminating in Water Heritage Day on Sunday 25 August.

As an island nation, our history and our heritage have been shaped by the sea and the great Irish rivers, lakes and wetlands. Stories, songs and poems passed down through generations have preserved deep-rooted traditions and connections with water.

Cities, towns and villages developed along our coast because of access to the sea, deep water ports and river estuaries for trade and transport. Fishing has supported rural communities and ensured a steady supply of fish for table and market. In fact, as a nation we owe a great deal to our natural waters and the myriad of wildlife they support.

This year’s Heritage Week theme Pastimes | Past Times was an opportunity to recall great stories, songs, crafts, sports and other activities associated with your local river, lake, canal or coast.

Learn more:

www.heritageweek.ie

About author

EPA Catchments Unit

Administrator

The EPA Catchments Unit is based in Dublin, and the team is involved with catchment science, chemistry, ecology, hydromorphology, modelling, Geographic Information Systems and planning. We work with the wider EPA, all of our local authorities, the Local Authority Waters and Communities Office, the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, and other public bodies and Departments to ensure we have the best available data and information about our catchments.

Who is involved?
Quite simply, everyone in Ireland has a role to play. This can be from something as simple as making sure you don’t pollute your local stream, or a local community working together to establish a Rivers Trust to enhance the rivers and lakes in their area, to a Government Department or Agency helping a Minister implement a new policy to help protect and enhance all our water bodies.

This website has been developed and is maintained by the Environmental Protection Agency, and is a collaboration between the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Local Authority Waters Programme.

Local Authority Waters Programme

The Local Authority Waters Programme coordinates the efforts of local authorities and other public bodies in the implementation of the River Basin Management Plan, and supports local community and stakeholder involvement in managing our natural waters, for everyone’s benefit.

Environmental Protection Agency

The EPA is responsible for coordinating the monitoring, assessment and reporting on the status of our 4,842 water bodies, looking at trends and changes, determining which waterbodies are at risk and what could be causing this, and drafting environmental objectives for each.

Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage

The Department is responsible for making sure that the right policies, regulations and resources are in place to implement the Water Framework Directive, and developing a River Basin Management Plan and Programme of Measures to protect and restore our waters.