Letters to the Editor: Part of our heritage torched in gorse fires
Gorse fires such as the recent blaze on the Blackstairs Mountains prompted John Fitzgerald to appeal for better protection. File picture: Damien Storan
We have a lovely country, with its many scenic attractions, some of them the envy of other nations. What a pity that a small minority of reckless people appear hell-bent on spoiling this priceless legacy.
I refer to a recent spate of illegal gorse fires in the idyllic Blackstairs Mountains. A woman showed me some video footage of the outbreak, with towering flames and plumes of smoke rising over Mount Leinster, obscuring whole swathes of what is supposedly a special area of conservation.
She and her neighbours awoke to the sight of a blazing mountainside, the acrid smoke curling so close that they could smell the burning gorse.
The shock and gasping helplessness of onlookers is audible in the clip … words failing them as they behold a local version of Dante’s Inferno.
The blaze destroyed not only vegetation and rare plants, including one that plays host to butterflies. It also consumed precious habitat that supports a variety of birds and mammals: Breeding birds like hen harriers, merlin, golden plover, the magnificent peregrine falcon, and the sadly declining red grouse, which can do without being pushed closer to the brink. Other birds, such as skylarks, meadow pipits, and pheasants were also in the affected areas.
Apart from the ecological catastrophe that illegal fires can wreak as they sweep through gorse and heather, which can lead to an imbalance in the natural order, let’s not forget the suffering inflicted on individual birds and animals if the flames overtake them. They don’t deserve this hell-on-earth created by irresponsible humans.
Did those people consider for a moment the spectre of nesting birds struggling to avoid incineration or smoke inhalation, or the fate of hares, foxes, feral goats, badgers, and stoats, peacefully sheltering in their upland habitat … only to be afflicted by this man-made apocalypse … fleeing in all directions but getting trapped by the searing heat and the smoke? No animal or bird deserves that.
The State needs to vigorously enforce the ban on illegal burning and impose heavier penalties for the practice.
What’s the point of asserting, at national or local level, our commitment to maintaining and incentivising biodiversity if this annual attack on our upland habitats is allowed to continue?
Anyone with information on the Blackstairs Mountains fires, or similar activity anywhere in Ireland, should pick up the phone and contact either the gardaí or the wildlife service.
The perpetrators didn’t just burn a bit of gorse. They torched a part of our heritage that belongs to all of us. It deserves full protection and to be preserved for future generations. We mustn’t let a few firebugs take it from us.
On the topic of flexibility for working parents, is there not a large elephant in the room that no one seems to mention? I refer to the constitutional guarantee that mothers should not be forced into the workplace by economic necessity.
This guarantee was recently in danger of being wiped from the Constitution.
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In March 2024, in the face of immense pressure from government and other bodies, the people of Ireland voted overwhelmingly to retain Article 41 of the Constitution. The voters saw that the failed proposal was an effort to let the powers that be off the hook for the many years of the failure of successive administrations to uphold the Constitution to ensure that mothers should not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in work outside the home.
Over the years, the situation only got worse, resulting in almost no mother being lucky enough today to have the luxury of not having to go out to work outside the home, to ensure her family is adequately fed.
I see this as an equality issue for women, who have been treated very badly by society over the years. The longer it goes on without any move to redress the situation, the greater the chances are of successful legal challenges being taken by individuals or organisations. Perhaps if the next budget included some real measures to help mothers and society, it could keep the Government out of the courts.
I would like to commend Colin Sheridan for his brilliant column — ‘We still have three more years of Trump, and that’s terrifying’ (Irish Examiner, May 2).
Having reflected on Mr Sheridan’s piece , I found myself coming to the conclusion that the highly unpopular and illegal war in Iran is fast becoming a vivid example of the chaos and instability bred by unilateralism.
It’s my contention that Trump’s authoritarianism has laid bare a perception that the world will not be made unipolar again.
I especially find it interesting to note that the argument being posited by many commentators is that the current dark era of American unilateralism and lawless militarism may be coming to a premature end, as it sinks below the waters in the Strait of Hormuz. This notion appears to be gathering momentum as other western countries recover their poise and place long-term bets that they can no longer cower under the US security blanket.
I love the way Mr Sheridan describes Trump’s administration as a collection of Marvel villains.
As a clinician, I have observed how people tend to surround themselves with like-minded people. This is a natural preference for social affirmation, shared values, and comfort. This shapes a person’s mindset, habits, and success, as a person may often adopt the behaviours and attitudes of those a person spends the most time with.
When I look at Trump’s cabinet, they are all a replica of himself.
Autocrats like Trump require a surrounding of like-minded people due to deep-seated psychological needs for validation, control, and the management of high anxiety, often resulting in a self-reinforcing echo chamber that distorts.
I have always believed that this type of milieu is not just a personal preference for Trump, but it’s also a crucial structural component for maintaining his authority, as it prevents dissent, ensures loyalty, and reduces the uncertainty that comes with ruling.
Colin Sheridan is on the money when he posits the notion that there is no real opposition to the Republican Party. I would argue that the Democratic Party are captive to outdated norms which I believe is endangering democracy.
It’s my assertion that the establishment left’s attachment to rigid rules leaves the Democratic Party out of touch and failing to meet the moment.
Globally, I don’t feel all is lost in that there is now a growing recognition, especially in the European core of Nato, that for Europe to defend itself against Russia will now require integrating Ukraine into a European defence framework.
One must remember that Ukraine has the largest conventional army in Europe with more than four years of up-to-date experience of fighting the Russians.
One must not forget that Ukraine is a world leader in the development of drone capabilities, including drone interceptors.
I agree with Colin Sheridan when he says: “Whatever happens over the next 944 days, it will not be boring. And in the Trump era, that should worry all of us.”
However, I do think that the world is now punching back.
One may remember in January how Trump went too far in Davos as the US president took his bullying doctrine to the World Economic Forum and hit a wall of opposition.
During the conflict in Iran, there were no countries rushing to assist Trump.
If all of this creates a new western alliance against Trump , then my response is to say: “All to the good.”
A stint of living abroad breeds nostalgic memories of childhood and bygone pleasures. One of these is sending and receiving cards on our cultural festivals. But to my dismay cards depicting treasured memories associated with Easter are hard to come by.
Where are the Easter cards depicting coloured chocolate eggs and the cute Easter bunnies that so delighted my childhood?
One has to wade through shelves with pictures depicting a man with his hands and feet exhibiting lesions witnessing a brutal ancient Roman execution, his head bearing gore-covered thorns. Imagine the effects of these graphics on sensitive infants expecting the innocent delights of the Easter bunnies and eggs.
Other national images were the ones associated with our cultural Christmas festival. We fail to find a genial red-robed bearded man with reindeer-drawn sledge loaded with youngster-bound presents, assisted by a retinue of elves and fairies. What is he replaced by? A mythical baby born in a cowshed, receiving incomprehensible donations from a trio of weird astrologers.
Surely there is no justification for the undermining of our national customs by insidious grisly or absurd myths bearing no relevance to the origins of centuries-old traditions?
