Anton McNulty
Turfcutters have called on the General Election candidates to present their party’s policy on turfcutting to be signed by their party leader to show they are supportive of their concerns.
A public meeting organised by the Turfcutters and Contractors Association will take place this Sunday in the Castlecourt Hotel in Westport with all the candidates in the General Election invited to attend.
Last week thousands of turf cutters gathered at a mass rally in Athlone to show their opposition to the turf cutting ban on raised bog in the midlands. While the majority of Mayo consists of blanket bog and do not have the same restrictions attached to them, many people fear that it is only a matter of time before there are severe restrictions to blanket bogs.
Contractor and Mayo County Councillor, Michael Holmes said it was a right of every person to cut their own turf for fuel but added that restrictions are already in place regarding blanket bogs. He said that sausage machine turf is not allowed to be cut in an SAC and a person cannot open a new bog if the old bog is used up.
He said they were asking for the support of the election candidates but did not want any empty promises.
“We are asking the election candidates to support us but we are also asking them to forward their party’s policy on turfcutting when they are in government to be signed by their leader or deputy leader. We want proof of their party’s position. We don’t just want a candidate to say they are behind us when their party’s policy is not,” he said.
Cllr Holmes said that when the EU Habitats Directive was introduced in 1997, the EU asked for five per cent of the country to be designated a SAC but at present 14.9 per cent of the country is a SAC. He said that these restrictions may not affect people in this generation but warned that future generations may not be allowed to cut turf and the aim of the meeting was to highlight these concerns.
He added that since the downturn in the economy and the increased price in oil and gas more people were starting to cut turf again.
“Every contractor will tell you that there has been a considerable increase in the number of people cutting turf. The downturn of the economy means more people have time to save turf and in the last year people cutting turf has increased by around 40 per cent,” he said.
The public meeting will take place on Sunday, February 13 in the Castlecourt Hotel, Westport at 3pm.
