LOCAL OPPOSITION GROWS TO TURF-CUTTING BAN

Date Published: 07-Apr-2010

Local opposition is mounting at Government plans to restrict turf-cutting on bogs in the county.

Under a ten-year-old EU directive, turf-cutting is to be banned on raised bogs which have been designated 'special areas of conservation'.

Concerned Galway farmers are highlighting the importance of turf-cutting as a source of income and as a domestic fuel.

IFA Connacht Vice President, Padraic Divilly, has called on the Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, to allow the cutting of turf for domestic use

Galway-based Green Senator, Niall O Brolchain, is warning, that Ireland faces a legal battle with the EU, as well as financial loss, if the directive is not implemented.