Crowd gathers to support turf cutters in Galway

Up to 100 people have gathered in Clonmoylan and Barroughter bogs in county Galway to support those who have been cutting turf through the night.

This weekend marks the second consectutive weekend the two bogs have been worked on by campaigners who are opposing an EU directive banning cutting in Special Areas of Conservation.

Spokesperson for Clonmoylan and Barroughter Bogs Action Group, Dermot Moran, told midlands 103 they don't feel they are doing anything wrong.

Mr Moran said: "We say that we are not breaking any law, there should be nothing to stop people cutting turf, those that want to cut turf should be left to do it.

"There is conservation all over the place here, we were listening to birds here at dawn after we were out here all night.

"The two of them go hand-in-hand, we have been the major conservationists, if we hadn't there'd be nothing for anybody here."