Minister Murphy attends British Irish Council Symposium on Marine Litter

The Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Eoghan Murphy T.D., today (22 February 2019), joined his counterparts from six other administrations at the British Irish Council Symposium on marine litter in Glasgow. The British Irish Council pledged to take further action to combat the issue of marine litter.

The administrations committed to working together with industry to develop a solution for the recycling of end-of-life fishing gear. They also committed to co-operative working to further reduce the loss of pre-production plastics, commonly referred to as nurdles, across the supply chain and improve marine environmental education for young people and the fishing industry.

Minister Murphy stated, “I am pleased to support the actions announced today at the BIC Symposium which are in line with our marine environment policy to address this multi-faceted, transboundary problem. These actions announced today address recycling at end of life with fishing nets, seek to limit the scale and impact of plastic pollution, which is of particular concern and extend the reach of the important education and awareness raising activities we undertake. I aim to build on the successes we have made in Green Schools with new environmental training modules for key stakeholders in the marine environment, such as the fishing community. ”

Minister Murphy also commented, “Todays symposium illustrates the essential value of regional co-operation and I wish to continue to work proactively with the other administrations represented here today. I also look forward to continuing this cooperation with my wider network of colleagues in OSPAR in the preparation of their North-East Atlantic Environment Strategy which will deliver a roadmap by which we can address the current and future marine environment challenges.”

You can read the Communiqué issued by the Symposium here.