Dredging tested after swan deaths

TEN swans  have died, and others are 'dangerously ill' on a canal, within ten days after it had been dredged.

However this has not happened on our waterways but on the Grand Canal in Dublin, where tests are now being carried out on the dead swans.

Bacterial infection

The tests so far by the Department of Agriculture at the State laboratory have ruled out avian flu, and the cause of the bird deaths remained unknown, though it is believed they they appeared to have contracted a bacterial infection.

Waterways Ireland is carrying out a dredging programme on the canal, with the work involving the removal of sediment deposits, that are now being tested.