Report first, record second

Ring Inland Fisheries Ireland first, always: 0818 34 74 24, staffed around the clock and confidential. IFI is the Lead Agency for fish kills in Ireland — once notified it co-ordinates the councils, the EPA and the other agencies, so one call starts the whole response.

Then ring the National Environmental Complaints Line on 1800 365 123 — it logs the complaint nationally and routes it to the right local authority at any hour. Add Uisce Éireann (1800 278 278) if a sewer or wastewater plant may be involved, or the EPA (0818 33 55 99) if a licensed industrial site may be the source.

Phone first — do not email an active incident. Ask every authority you ring for a reference number or the officer's name, and keep it.

Fisheries officers deploy to investigate and sample. For a serious event, IFI convenes a Significant Incident Investigation Group with the EPA, the council, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the Marine Institute and others — one investigation, one set of records, one voice. IFI publishes findings afterwards.

Your photos and notes are a lead that helps investigators respond fast and find the source — the formal evidence for any prosecution is collected by officers to a legal standard. That's why the app never asks you to take samples: samples taken the wrong way have no evidential value and can put you in danger.