Minister taking turf from the poor, says judge

A judge says Heritage Minister Jimmy Deenihan is “taking turf from the poor of Longford”.

Judge Seamus Hughes made his comment as he castigated a directive from the minister’s department that turf at the centre of a district court case must be left in a bog rather than distributed to the poor of Longford.

He was hearing a case of two brothers who were before Longford District Court charged with carrying out works on a national heritage area (NHA) that damaged the environs.