Demand for peat briquettes soars as cold weather continues

The cold snap is seeing householders snapping up peat briquettes as demand for the fuel soared by 67% in March.

Michael Coleman, commercial manager of Bord na Móna Retail, has seen an “unprecedented” surge in demand for briquettes, with average sales during January, February, and March up 47% on 2012 figures.

Speaking at the firm’s Derrinlough plant in Offaly yesterday, Mr Coleman said: “Normally we would have over 40,000 tonnes of briquettes in stock here. We don’t have it. We are selling more or less out of current production.”