Laws needed to protect uplands

QUADS, sports utility vehicles and scramblers are using beautiful upland commonage areas for recreational use, the Dáil has been told.

Green Party TD Mary White said she is very concerned about what is happening in special areas of conservation, particularly in the Blackstairs Mountains on the Carlow-Wexford border and also on the upland areas of Co Wicklow.

“These lands are farmers’ fields. They use the lands for commonage grazing and they collect financial payments for that. Unfortunately, some people using quads, SUVs and scramblers are destroying the habitat on which these farmers graze their sheep,” she said.