Killarney Park officials hope to ‘engage’ jarveys
Killarney National Park attracts more than a million visitors annually and NPWS regional manager Eamonn Meskell said they had been concerned for some time about the fouling of pathways by the jarveys’ horses.
He said dung gave rise to health and safety concerns and could cause cross-contamination from children’s buggies, bringing dung into family cars and the Muckross restaurant.
The dung was unsightly and smelly, not conducive to the national park ethos, conflicted with the beautiful landscape and did not find favour with visitors, he added.
“We just want to keep the park safe and clean,” Mr Meskell explained.
NPWS director John Fitzgerald thanked local people and Killarney tourism interests for their support and said dung catchers would be provided free of charge to the jarveys.
“Our doors remain open and we look forward to positive engagement from them (jarveys),” he added
The jarveys in the Muckross area are most affected by the High Court decision which, ironically, was brought by a different group of jarveys operating out of Killarney town.
The town jarveys are licensed by Killarney Town Council which will now come under pressure to introduce dung control measures similar to the NPWS.
Meanwhile, solicitor Paul O’Donoghue, who represented the 27 jarveys in the case, was meeting last night his clients to consider the judgment.
Complex legal issues were involved and they had not yet seen a written copy of the judgment, he said. “We must consider all the implications of the judgment and will also be actively considering anappeal to the Supreme Court,” Mr O’Donoghue said.
Regarding the use of the dung catchers, he said the jarveys had always been open to talks with the NPWS and that remained the position.
“The preferred course of action from the start would be to resolve this issue through talks and the door is always open as far as we are concerned.Going to court was the last resort,” he said.
Spokesman for the Muckross jarveys Diarmuid Cronin said his group had nothing to do with the court case and never wanted to take legal proceedings against the NPWS.
“From day one, we wanted this issue dealt with through negotiations and a mediator which, I believe we must still get in order to resolve the problem,” he said.
“The big fear now is that some people may be forced into using these dung-catching devices because they’re on the breadline.”
Mr Cronin said the Muckross jarveys had always looked on it as a health and safety issue and had advice from an independent expert that the devices would be unsafe.
The women’s group, Killarney Soroptimists, campaigned on the issue and spokeswoman Sheila Casey said they were “absolutely delighted” with the ruling.
“We’re delighted for the people of Killarney and hope that Killarney Town Council will now follow suit,” said Ms Casey, a former town councillor who lost her seat in the last local elections in which she took a pro dung-catcher line.
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