Here and there in Irish rivers, the white-clawed crayfish clings to survival. Ireland is the last remaining stronghold in Europe of this freshwater species, and it is now protected by European and Irish law.
Similarly under threat is the lamprey, which is often mistaken for an eel. The three species of lamprey, of which the brook lamprey is the most widespread, are all protected under the EU Habitats Directive.
Lamprey populations are declining throughout Europe due to habitat destruction and pollution. Their status in Ireland is unknown. This information, and much more, is gleaned from a fascinating exhibition which is on display in the public library in Carrick-on-Suir, Co Waterford, until the end of September.
The exhibition, on loan from Enfo (the environmental information service), documents the life and lore of a great river, the Suir, whose catchment covers about 4 per cent of the entire area of Ireland.
The aim is to heighten awareness and appreciation of the Suir valley and its many features, bridges, monasteries, weirs and millraces, industries along the river banks, animal life on the land and in the water. These are featured in photographs, maps, sketches and text.
The Suir is one of three rivers (the others are the Boyne and the Liffey) which are the subject of a major three-year project which aims to provide an environmental monitoring and management system for the rivers and their tributaries.
An outline is provided of this project, which is sponsored by the Department of the Environment and Local Government with 85 per cent support from the EU Cohesion Fund and is jointly administered by Meath and Kildare County Councils with Tipperary (SR) County Council.
The exhibition also seeks to show a cross-section of the vibrant human activity, current and historical, associated with the Suir.
It provides examples of the many references to the river in literature, poetry and travel-writing.
It quotes, for example, the Carrick-on-Suir writer, Michael Coady, who wrote: "The river runs deep within all of us in Carrick, or of Carrick. Not only in our conscious minds and memories, but in our unconscious as well . . ."