Public told be on high alert for wildfires

The public is being urged to be on the alert for wildfires, with the risk of outbreaks deemed high for the coming days due to dry weather.

More than 60 employees at Bord na Móna have volunteered to monitor fire-prone areas over the bank holiday weekend as a threat looms on the company’s lands.

The improved weather has signalled the start of farmers’ annual gorse-burning season, even if it is illegal to burn vegetation between March 1 and August 28 under the Wildlife Act.