Department denies claims that illegal turf-cutting is going unchallenged

The Department of Agriculture has strongly denied claims by environmental and heritage groups that illegal turf-cutting on nine of the country’s 53 protected bogs is going unchallenged.

According to the department, gardaí are also working to “pursue prosecutions where breaches of the law have occurred”.

Earlier this week, An Taisce and Friends of the Irish Environment said they had “eyewitness reports of members of An Garda Síochána laughing and joking as they apparently stand by watching the law being broken”.