Anton McNulty
Farmers and landowners have been warned to expect further restrictions on their land if the North West Mayo Boglands is named as a UN World Heritage Site.
The North West Mayo Boglands and the Céide Fields near Ballycastle have been included among Ireland’s nominees to the World Heritage List submitted to UNESCO. To be included on the tentative list has been described as a badge of honour but according to Independent councillor, Michael Holmes, it bring further uncertainty to farmers and residents living within the area.
Speaking at last week’s public meeting of the Irish Turfcutters and Contractors Association in Westport, Cllr Holmes expressed his concern about what the consequences of being named a World Heritage Site would have on the area.
“There are only three world heritage sites in Ireland altogether and there are two nominated in Mayo. One of them is the Céide Fields which I don’t have a major problem with but if I was living in the general area, I would be very concerned. The other site is referred to as the North Mayo Bogs Complex and I am told they are being looked on favourably. I have failed to get from anybody not alone the implications and the restrictions of the North Mayo Bogs Complex but I have failed to get the boundaries of it.
“I am told quite clearly that it could go from Mulranny taking in the National Park in Ballycroy, to Newport and Crossmolina, across all of north Mayo as far as Lacken and Ballina. It is possible that it could and probably will when they get it for nothing. We have been told they will be good and there will be consultation but with the other designations we were told they would be good and there would be consultation. It is very important that the politicians are aware of it and to me it is a very serious happening,” he said.
The applications for inclusion as a World Heritage Site was made last April and and the other nominees include the Burren, Clonmacnoise, the Historical City of Dublin, the Royal Sites of Ireland, the Early Medieval Monastic Sites and the Western Stone Forts.
The Céide Fields and North West Mayo Boglands comprises a Neolithic landscape consisting of megalithic burial monuments, dwelling houses and enclosures within an integrated system of stone walls defining fields, which are spread over 12 km of north Mayo. Many of the features are preserved intact beneath blanket peat that is over 4m deep in places.
