Criminal investigations into recent gorse fires underway

National Park and Wildlife Service (NPWS) Conservation Rangers, Sam Bayley, left and Danny O'Keeffe, Regional Manager, Killarney National Park, assessing the Uplands of Killarney National Park - Cores Mountain. There were fears that sections of woodlands in Killarney National Park, could be destroyed after a large fire started as a controlled gorse fire in a designated area of special conservation. Picture: Valerie O'Sullivan
A number of live criminal investigations are underway in connection with recent gorse fires, according to Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage Malcolm Noonan.
Speaking in the Dáil last week, he linked these investigations to interruptions of those setting fires by National Parks and Wildlife Service ground patrols.