ROI ‘owned’ Lough is not protected site

Mr Attwood says he has written to his Dublin counterpart Phil Hogan “to ascertain his view on the matter.”

He says that: “Because of its international importance Lough Foyle was designated as a Ramsar Site in February 1999.”

Ramsar refers to the setting of an international convention on the importance of wetlands as waterfowl habitats that was held in Iran in 1971.

The Sentinel has previously reported how an ongoing border dispute between the Republic and the UK over who owns the Lough has resulted in practical difficulties in the past.

Almost four years ago the Sentinel revealed how the Republic’s territorial ambitions in Lough Foyle were partly blamed for blocking the Project Kelvin submarine cable’s progress up the waterway.

Dublin says the Lough Foyle foreshore belongs to the Republic of Ireland under its State Property Act (1954).

Last year Irish Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin’s Private Secretary acknowledged uncertainty over jurisdiction within Lough Foyle had created practical difficulties for the conduct of a number of activities in the waterway.

Now Mr Attwood claims not all of the Lough is a protected waterway due to its shared jurisdiction.

“The UK Government signed the Ramsar Convention in 1973 and ratified it in 1976. Each Contracting Party to the Convention is required to designate wetlands in accordance with criteria agreed by these parties for inclusion in a list of ‘Wetlands of International Importance,’” he explained.

“Lough Foyle, situated on the north coast of Northern Ireland, is a large shallow sea lough which contains extensive intertidal areas of mudflats and sandflats.

“It is an internationally important coastal site for wintering waders and wildfowl. Because of its international importance Lough Foyle was designated as a Ramsar Site in February 1999,” he added.

Mr Attwood said the Ramsar site includes the whole of Lough Foyle Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) and the intertidal area of Magilligan ASSI in Lough Foyle.

He said the protected boundary conforms exactly with the Lough Foyle Special Protection Area.

It also overlaps with the Magilligan Special Area of Conservation.

However, part of the waterway is still not protected.

“The part of Lough Foyle which falls within the jurisdiction of the Republic of Ireland has not been designated as a Ramsar site. I have written to the Dublin Minister to ascertain his view on the matter,” Mr Attwood explained.

Back in 2009 at the height of a controversy over whether or not the Project Kelvin telecommunication house should be located in Londonderry or Coleraine, a top Hibernia Atlantic boss revealed the disputed status of Lough Foyle.

Derek Bullock, Vice President of Network Operations Hibernia Atlantic, was asked at the Stormont Enterprise Committee if the original Project Kelvin specification envisaged that the firm would tap into the transatlantic line and bring it down Lough Foyle into Londonderry.

He replied: “That is technically impossible. Lough Foyle is a disputed border region, and, as I said, we cannot put submarine cables near disputed border regions.

“We cannot bring a cable into Lough Foyle, because the border line under the sea there is actually disputed. We will not get into that level of consultation and negotiation to try to solve that issue, so we chose Portrush.”

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) underlined its view at the time that all of Lough Foyle was British and that was not negotiable.

A spokeswoman told the Sentinel then: “The UK position is that the whole of Lough Foyle is within the UK. We recognise that the Irish Government does not accept this position.

“There are no negotiations currently in progress on this issue. The regulation of activities in the Lough is now the responsibility of the Loughs Agency, a cross-border body established under the Belfast Agreement of 1988.”