EC may take Irish government to court over illegal turf cutting

Galway Bay fm newsroom – The European Commission says it will be left with no option but to take the Government here to court if illegal turf cutting continues on certain raised bogs around the country

At present 38 per cent of raised bog habitat in Ireland has been destroyed between 1995 and 2012 as a result of persistent turf cutting, with a large amount of the activity on county Galway raised bogs

The ban on extraction only effects four per cent of Irish bogs but cutting is continuing

The most recent episode was in Monivea last weekend where 76 banks of turf were cut illegally

Barbara Nolan of the EU Office in Dublin says recourse to the courts may be the only option to apply the ban