File for DPP following Loughrea forest fires

A file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions following the lighting of fires on Coillte-owned land in the Derrybrien and Kileenadeema areas of Loughrea earlier this month.
One man has been arrested and questioned as part of the investigation and Gardai say further arrests are likely as suspects are identified.
Source say the area avoided a Cloosh Valley-style disaster after the fires were set in a number of woodland areas over the past six weeks.
Coillte told Gardaí that the fire could potentially have caused hundreds of millions of euro worth of damage.
Landowners across the county are being urged not to engage in illegal burning as the dry spell returns this week.