Peat council vows to be fair

THE head of a new mediation body set up to address complaints by rural dwellers banned from cutting turf in ecologically sensitive areas has promised to deal fairly and sensitively with those affected.

Conor Skehan, the former chairman of Bord na Móna, has been appointed to head up the newly formed Peatlands Council, which will hear arguments from farming organisations and environmentalists as well as turf-cutters.

He said he would listen to the concerns of rural dwellers affected by the EU legislation which is designed to protect rare flora and fauna, especially rare heather.

“The law is very clear on this and must be upheld,” said Mr Skehan, “but there has also been a breach of trust between government and people and the way to restore that trust is to put a mediation system in place.”

The cutting of turf has become a contentious issue with the EU Commission arguing that the Government is not doing enough to protect special conservation areas while farmers and other rural dwellers insist on continuing an activity that has been part of their lives for generations.

Mr Skehan said that a scheme to compensate those affected had been agreed last week at a Cabinet meeting. A previous compensation scheme operated by the heritage service, Dúchas, has been criticised in the past as failing to recognise fully the economic value of bogs.

“We are talking about a small number of sites but every one of those sites is somebody’s land. They need to make money and that reality must be addressed,” said Mr Skehan.

“Part of my remit with the council is to have an appeals body to allow those who feel they have not been properly dealt with to be heard by an independent body. My instructions are to address it as a human issue and to ensure that whatever must be done under the law is done with full regard to people’s needs to make livelihoods.”

Mr Skehan is arranging a meeting this week with the turf cutters, the IFA, Irish Rural Link, Bord na Móna, as well as the Environmental pillar, an umbrella organisation for environmental groups in Ireland.

The EU Habitats Directive which brought about the ban was announced as far back as 1999, but cutters were allowed 10 years for removing turf for domestic purposes from the 31 designated raised bogs.

Failure to fully implement the ruling since 2009 has infuriated the EU Commission, which has warned the Government that it is preparing to take “accelerated” action against Ireland at the European Court of Justice unless the matter is addressed urgently. This could result in millions of euro in fines being imposed until the directive is fully complied with.

Most of the 31 bogs are in Galway, Mayo and Roscommon with other bogs in Kerry also affected. A further 24 bogs will come under the ruling by the end of this year, sparking fears that a total ban nationally on bog cutting will follow.

This, however, has been dismissed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service as well as by Mr Skehan who said that turf-cuttting would be allowed to continue at the vast majority of sites in Ireland.