Pigheaded

Poised on the cusp of disaster, a pigheaded farmer, Donal Connaughton, in Longford, had ready for his disposal 25 massive tanks above and below ground of highly toxic slurry.  Like a great monolith, these tanks contained 4 million gallons of slurry over an area of 8000 sg meters. Half of this area contained unauthorized tanks, that begs the question how did he get planning permission in the first place for the other half that contained 2 million gallons alone. The judge presiding in the courts described just one tank as being the size of an Airport terminal.

It was not until March of 2013 when this toxic still was finally discovered about the  non-complaint Donal, and maybe it all just came to light when one of the sharp eyed officials from the department of the Inland fisheries Board who visited Donal, noticed 14,000 pigs were grunting about the place shouting: ‘Over here you dummy, over here.’  Or perhaps the light went on in his head when he spotted numerous pipes leading down to Lough Slawn from the piggery which feeds into Lough Ree, which, if the rumours are true, is soon to be renamed Lough Slurry. Only in Ireland, only in fu…ing Ireland.

Donal was just being his usual self:  thick and ignorant, but he had help by the thicker heads of Longford Council to make sure he stayed that way.    

He pleaded guilty at the courts, citing financial difficulty, and threw himself at the mercy of the court after doing the same thing with the State earlier for his weekly allowance, and got it too.

The judge talked tough, and is holding Donal solely responsible for this disaster, citing that he is the architect or the author of his own misfortune, that is if you could call the concrete that he poured over 95% of his property- architecture.

Still in shock after being shown photographs of the tank containing slurry and rainwater, Judge Hughes described it as “one of the most frightening photographs ever shown to this court”. There is talk that it was the farmer he was looking at and not the tank, but perhaps a moot point at this stage.

Judge Hughes added: “The Department of the Environment and the Environmental Protection Agency need to know everything that’s going on, even though they apparently did, but really are more about protecting their jobs than anything like a few rivers and lakes.

Only in fu….ing Ireland indeed.

Barry Clifford