Call to relax turf cutting ban on Galway bogs
A mini-heatwave may be hitting the West this week – but thoughts have already turned to winter heating…and the ban on turf-cutting that applies to three bogs in south-east Galway.
Galway East TD Louis O’Hara has called on Minister with responsibility for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity Christopher O’Sullivan to allow turf cutting to take place at Ardraigue, Barroughter and Clonmoylan bogs this summer.
And Galway Senator PJ Murphy has called on the Government and the National Parks and Wildlife Service have been asked to urgently intervene to support 80 families affected by the ending of the turf-cutting compensation scheme at the same three bogs.
Raising the matter in the Seanad, Senator PJ Murphy said the families connected to the bogs entered into agreements with the NPWS in 2011 under the turf-cutting compensation scheme. He noted that, while the compensation payments have now ended, ‘the NPWS has not successfully relocated any of the 80 families in question’.
Senator Murphy said the families now ‘find themselves with nowhere to legally cut turf’ despite honouring the agreement for the past 15 years.
Highlighting the growing concern locally, he told the Seanad that “the situation we are in now for these families in south-east Galway is that they have empty turf sheds” at a time when fuel costs remain extremely high.
Deputy O’Hara, meanwhile, told Minister O’Sullivan that many local people who rely on turf to heat their homes were left without a supply for last winter – and he asked the Minister in the Dáil last week to meet with affected families.
He put the figure of families affected at ‘approximately 40’.
“In early 2025, a local turf cutting contractor was served with a High Court injunction to cease the harvesting of turf. As a result of this action, many local people who rely on turf to heat their homes were left without a supply for last winter,” he said.
“As we are currently in the turf cutting season, these families are facing the same issue due to the fact that there is no contractor to cut their turf because the injunction remains in place.
Under the existing legislation, the families could be allowed to harvest the turf if the Minister of State signed an order.
“What is happening is causing significant distress. Many of them are elderly. They have cut turf in these bogs for years, rely on this fuel to heat their homes, are watching their supplies dwindle and have no affordable alternative.
“I understand that the bogs have been designated as SACs. There are significant concerns around how these bogs were designated that I have written to the Minister about, but I still have not received any real explanation.
“Under the existing legislation, the families could be allowed to harvest the turf if the Minister of State signed an order. On behalf of the affected families, I ask you to do that or, at the very least, to meet with them, discuss the issue and try to find a resolution to it,” he added.
But in response, Minister Christopher O’Sullivan would not commit to meeting the families. He said he was prohibited from granting consent for turf cutting due to the bogs being designated SACs.