School Researchers attend Interagency Meeting “Ammonia and Natura 2000” in Belfast

_{UCD School of Biosystems & Food Engineering PhD student David “Dáithí” Kelleghan addressing the group about the AmmoniaN2K project.}

Nitrogen deposition, particularly ammonia, significantly pressures sensitive semi-natural habitats in the UK and Ireland. Decisions to permit installations releasing ammonia are made in the context of high background levels that often exceed environmental benchmarks.

The Irish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is funding the “AmmoniaN2K” research project, which is led by the UCD School of Biosystems and Food Engineering in partnership with the University of West of England (UWE). The study will quantify and assess the impact of ammonia emissions from intensive pig and poultry units on Natura 2000 sites in Ireland.

Many of the issues faced by the Irish EPA and covered by this research project are shared by UK statutory nature conservation bodies and pollution regulators. These agencies have also been researching to improve their assessment approaches and to look at remedies for tackling ammonia impacts. In some cases, for example, in Northern Ireland, a large expansion of the poultry industry is bringing additional challenges for permitting and protecting Natura 2000 sites and Areas/Sites of Special Scientific Interest.

The focus of the interagency meeting, held in Belfast on the 17^th and 18^th of October 2016, was to encourage a conversation between different state bodies and stakeholders from the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England. Researchers from the AmmoniaN2K project along with steering committee members, were invited to attend and discuss their work. The research conducted by David Kelleghan, Dr Tom Curran (UCD) and Dr Enda Hayes (UWE) on ammonia emissions from pig and poultry houses in Ireland was the focus of the afternoon discussions, in addition to building detailed atmospheric dispersion models from which a national ecological assessment could be conducted.

_{Excursion to bog downwind of intensive pig and poultry house In Derry where passive ammonia sampling is conducted.}

The meeting was attended by: David “Dáithí” Kelleghan, Tom Curran (University College Dublin), Pat Byrne, Ciara Maxwell, John McEntagart (Environmental Protection Agency, Republic of Ireland), Andy Bleasdale, Barry O’Donoghue (National Parks and Wildlife Service, Republic of Ireland), David Dodd (Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Republic of Ireland), William Burchill (Teagasc, Republic of Ireland), Claire Whitfield (Joint Nature Conservation Committee), Susan Zappala (Natural England), Simon Bareham, Khalid Aazem, Jeremy Walters (Natural Resources Wales), Claire Campbell (Scottish Environment Protection Agency), Mike Shepard (Scottish Natural Heritage), Paul Corbett (Department of the Environment, Northern Ireland), Sara McGuckin, Keith Finegan, Barry McAuley, David Bruce, Charlotte Stewart (Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Northern Ireland).