COMEDIAN and TV host Stephen Fry has joined a campaign opposing an oyster farm in a scenic Co Donegal bay – after being made aware of the plans by accident.
Fry was inadvertently sent an email about plans for a huge oyster farm at Loughros More Bay near Ardara in south west Donegal.
He took to Twitter yesterday to urge people to join the campaign to save the bay in "glorious Co Donegal".
On the 'Wild Atlantic Way', Loughros More Bay lies just west of Ardara and is a popular destination for tourists.
Fry told his 12 million Twitter followers: "By a strange quirk I accidentally received an email intended for someone else.
"It made me aware, though, of the people of Loughros Mór in glorious Co Donegal and their fight against a 200-acre oyster farm in their famous, beautiful bay."
He urged his followers to sign a petition opposing the plan.
Opponents to the oyster farm have written to the Republic's agriculture minister Michael Creed asking him to reject the plan on the grounds that Loughros More Bay is a "special area of conservation".
In a letter to the minister, they said: "Ardara is a Heritage town on the Wild Atlantic Way that relies heavily on tourism as its main source of income.
"The development of aquaculture sites and the associated aesthetic impact (which will be clearly visible from multiple locations around Ardara) will have a devastating effect on visitor numbers."
The campaign group hopes to attract 1,000 signatures to its petition.
