The purpose of our Blue Dot project is to engage the community connected with the rivers in our sub-catchment- the Carrowniskey and Bunowen rivers and their tributaries. A key aim is to help these rivers be as ecologically pure as they can be. 

The Blue Dot project involves a few different angles: I am carrying out recorded and anonymised interviews with people who live with these rivers, organising some public events, attending knowledge sharing sessions, and visiting some schools and colleges to talk about the project and its findings.

The head waters of the Bunowen and Carrowniskey are “High Status Objective” waters which gives them a Blue Dot designation. It means they are as ecologically pure as they can be. As the rivers flow towards the sea, they lose this status and are therefore less ecologically pure. We should still be proud of how “clean” our rivers are in this area, but they could be better, and that would be great for biodiversity.

When I ask people about the “blue dot” I invariably get a blank look. Most people have heard of a blue flag beach. The blue dot is really the equivalent for riverways.  Blue dot waters are of the highest ecological quality and they can support a greater range of species that are sensitive to pollution. Blue dots explained: https://lawaters.ie/blue-dot-programme/

How did I devise the questions I ask my Blue Dot interviewees?

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