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Stories from the waterside – new storytelling competition launched

A brand new national storytelling competition ‘Stories from the Waterside’ / ‘Scéalta Ó Thaobh An Uisce’ with €4000 in prizes has just been launched. What stories have you to tell about your local waters? Have your family or neighbors told you any tall tales about your local water body over the years?

The LA Waters Programme have partnered with The Heritage Council and the Heritage Officer Programme, Waterways Ireland and Inland Fisheries Ireland to look for stories.

This could be your story about your favourite water body, or a story told to you by someone you know… maybe you can ring an uncle, aunt or grandparent who is a great storyteller and see if they have a story to tell?

The Lower Slaney Estuary – one of the more than 4,500 water bodies in Ireland.

You don’t have to be an expert writer to enter, just tell us your story or a story someone else has told you. Anyone can enter and you can enter more than one story if you like.

Your story can be from the past or in the present. It can be about the wildlife that lives or once lived in or around a water body. You can tell a story about fishing, hunting or just watching nature.

Your story could be about traditions or practices that used to take place, or maybe still do. Your story can involve folklore, tall tales or yarns associated with a water body.

What makes your local water body special?

A booklet with selected stories will be published for National Heritage Week which runs from 15-23 August 2020.

Entries are welcomed from across the island of Ireland and can be in English or Irish.

Stories should be:

About a water body on the island of Ireland
Written in English or Irish
600 words or less
original
previously unpublished

Closing Date is 31^st May 2020.

Learn more and enter online:

You can find out more and enter online on the Local Authority Waters Programme website

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.