Call for mediation in jarvey dispute

THERE were further calls yesterday for mediation in the horse dung row between the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and Killarney jarveys.

It was business at usual for the jarveys over the weekend, after they obtained a temporary High Court injunction allowing them back into Killarney National Park.

They had effectively been locked out of the park since Tuesday by the NPWS because of their refusal to attach dung-catchers to their horse-drawn carriages.

The issue will come before Mr Justice Hedigan in the High Court later this week.

Independent Killarney town councillor Donal Grady, some of whose family are jarveys, yesterday urged the sides to continue with efforts to find a settlement to the row through negotiations.

“A solution will have to be found, at the end of the day, and it would be better if everyone could agree with the final settlement,” said Mr Grady.

He and other councillors have been in touch with the NPWS. They called on the wildlife services, councillors and the jarveys’ legal representatives to sit down together for talks.

“If they can get peace in Northern Ireland through dialogue, there’s no reason why we can’t do the same with this problem in Killarney,” Mr Grady said.

Several other local politicians have also called for mediation, saying the situation should never have been allowed to develop into a stand-off.

Meanwhile, Mr Grady has denied reports of a fight between jarveys which was alleged to have taken place in Killarney on Saturday.

“There was no fight. Anything that happened was verbal – a case of words being exchanged,” Mr Grady said.

Gardaí were called to the jarvey stand in the centre of the Kerry town after a dispute broke out between drivers, arising from the stand-off.

It is understood that one driver was at the centre of a verbal altercation with a number of other drivers.