'Killarney burned for days in 2021 yet here we are again'

A Ballylickey farmer watches over a gorse fire. From today, it is illegal to burn vegetation until the September 1. Picture: Andy Gibson.

A lack of political courage to tackle the environmentally destructive culture of burning gorse and vegetation will lead to scenes like the West Cork fire being repeated indefinitely.

That is according to a leading biodiversity and environmental activist, who said that no lessons had been learned from the hugely destructive fire in Killarney National Park in 2021 when it should have been a "wake-up call that things had to change".