A requiem for the peat bog soldiers

IT’S the time of year when, traditionally, hardy men celebrated in song as “peat bog soldiers” would be sharpening the edge on their sleans and heading for the turf banks.

Now, it is being claimed, bureaucrats in Brussels, who would never have felt the spring of an Irish bog under their feet, want to stamp out the ancient practice of cutting turf for ever. However, not every bog is targeted and people can still get turf from certain bogs, for the time being at least.

This is all about conservation and saving what’s left of the bogs. Something that’s often forgotten, however, is that turf-cutters are in serious danger of suffering a fate similar to the Bali Tiger or the Palestinian Painted Frog – becoming an extinct species.

It’s yet another time-honoured tradition that is fading away in rural areas, although some people would have you believe it can be revived because of high oil prices and the recession.

Bogs are deserted places nowadays. On a sunny day last week, I drove the high road between Castleisland and Listowel, once a prime turf-cutting area in north Kerry, and kept an eye out for signs of human life on the peatlands. But the only hum of activity was provided by one tractor and an accompanying digger spreading ‘hoppers’ of turf.

At one time, you’d see dozens of men cutting turf around Lyrecrompane, which also had a Bord na Mona-run bog. But where are they now? !

If anything, the peat bog soldiers are being replaced by modern forms of energy production. Upwards of 30 wind turbines can be seen on elevated moorland that would once have been familiar to turf-cutters. If Dan Paddy Andy, the renowned match-maker of Renagown who has been immortalised by John B Keane, ever came back, he might not recognise the changed landscape, much of which is also planted.

For several years, the EU has been attempting to ban turf-cutting so as to save the bogs that remain. There’s predictable resistance from rural and farming groups, but conservationists, including An Taisce, are adamant turf-cutting has to stop.

Politicians are also jumping on the turf wagon, with Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore calling on Environment Minister John Gormley to immediately reverse his ban on domestic turf-cutting on 32 raised bogs.

“At the moment there appears to be massive confusion on whether a ban is actually in place or not. The minister’s own department is saying that there will be no more bogs cut this year in the designated areas,” Mr Gilmore says. “Yet, some of his officials are telling turf-cutters on the ground that unless they’ve got a letter informing them of the ban, then they can cut away.”

An Taisce has hit back, pointing out that the ban relates to 32 of the most pristine and valuable bogs left. These bogs are Special Areas of Conservation which we have a legal obligation to protect under the Habitats Directive.

It’s important to note that the ban applies to raised bogs, mainly found in the Midlands and parts of the west of Ireland. These bogs are so-called because they have a dome-shaped surface and are generally several metres higher than the local landscape. They can be up to 13 metres deep.

It’s from raised bogs that Bord na Mona gets milled peat and peat for the making of briquettes.

Nevertheless, there are thousands of acres of shallower blanket bogs in the country, with many in Cork and Kerry. Some people cut turf for their own use on these bogs, maintaining family traditions that stretch back generations. An understandable case is being made for allowing such people continue an age-old practice they hold dearly.

An Taisce remains unmoved, however, citing issues such as the loss of animal and plant life as well as drainage that damages the natural habitat of the bog. An Taisce also disagrees with the argument that ‘traditional’ peat extraction is undertaken on a small scale by people living locally for their own homes.

“The reality is highly damaging mechanised extraction in which a number of vested interests are earning large incomes, often without meeting planning requirements,” it says.

Not entirely true – there are still people around that cut turf in their own bogs for their own needs, with no commercial benefit.

We’re told by environmentalists that bogs hold and absorb carbon, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions. That is a good reason for a ban on turf-cutting, says An Taisce, which is also urging the Government to give priority to areas and households that depend on turf for fuel when incentives for wind energy and other renewables are handed out.

Maybe Lyrecrompane, as a highly wind turbined-area, is, ironically, showing the way. But, is the lonely whine of the turbine rotors a requiem for traditional turf-cutters?