Turf wars not just a case of environmentalism vs populism

Until State-driven environmental initiatives learn to appreciate ‘public’ concerns, official policies are doomed and popular support will wither away

A pile of turf extracted from a peat bog in rural Ireland

In 1993, the sociologist Hilary Tovey made a distinction between what she described as "official" environmentalism and "populist" environmentalism emerging at the time in Ireland.

Official environmentalism was predominantly urban-based and consisted of NGOs and professional experts (including academics) whose principal concerns were heritage and conservation.