The Shannon Regional Fisheries Board and the ESB, the investigating authorities, are believed to be "surprised and angered" at a statement from Limerick County Council blaming weather for the massive fish kill on the Mulkear river. The fisheries board was yesterday still standing over its statement that farm practices were a contributing factor. The chief officer, Mr Eamon Cusack, said that until it got the results of its analysis it had no reason to change its view that the pollution was a result of agricultural practices.
An IFA spokesman was adamant that it was a natural phenomenon and it had nothing to do with farm effluent.
The Irish Times has learned that pig effluent is being pinpointed as the alleged cause of the problem, but Mr David Thompson, chairman of the IFA animal health committee, said this was impossible, as the water from a pig farm in the area was clear and did not enter the flooded land where the kill occurred.
Mr Thompson said Limerick County Council, having seen the damage caused to the grassland, would have known it had nothing to do with farm practices.
He claimed the "natural phenomenon" was caused by rotting vegetation which "could have many similarities with the breakdown in fermentation taking place with cattle manure, which would make it more difficult to identify the differences between them".
The secretary of the river's anglers' association , Mr Andy McCallion, said it had no comment to make on the county council's statement until the results of the Fisheries Board and ESB tests were available.
Limerick County Council, asked on what scientific grounds its findings were based, said no comment was available. The council statement this week said "farm effluents were not a contributory cause".