News
Turf wars re-ignite as cutters defy law
Local people hired contractors to cut turf at two neighbouring Special Area of Conservation (SAC) bogs in Co Galway within the past week in an act of defiance against European Union designations which have now been in place for three years.
It is the third consecutive year in which turf-cutters from Clonmoylan and Barroughter, near Killimor, have risked the prospect of criminal prosecution by exercising their right to cut on their own plots despite the EU directives.
Contractors and local families worked from dawn to dusk over two days to cut the banks which have been the subject of heated debate since the Habitats Directives began to be enforced by the Government in early 2012.
Gardaí kept both bogs under virtually constant surveillance over a two month period last summer, before the turf was gathered home, but maintained a minimal presence while the banks were being cut at Barroughter and Clonmoylan over the past few days.
“We cut both bogs on different days last week,” said Dermot Moran, a spokesman for the turf-cutters. “The amount of turf cut is actually up on the last two seasons.”
See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.