Turf-cutting compensation package ‘a sell-out’

Turf-cutting compensation package ‘a sell-out’


Trevor Quinn

Contractor and Mayo County Council Councillor Michael Holmes has criticised the political clamour to implement the EU directive on turf cutting, and dubbed the Government’s newly announced compensation package a ‘sell-out scheme’. He said it will hand down a very poor legacy to future generations in the west of Ireland.
The Tiernaur man, who has been at the forefront of the turf-cutting row for many years, has called on Mayo people to get behind Roscommon turf cutters, who are vigourously campaigning against the ban.
He says that since the EU Habitats Directive was signed in to law in 1997 the amount of land in Mayo designated as Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) has steadily increased and is also a major concern for farmers, turf-cutters and those seeking planning permission.
The Government newly announced compensation offer is an attempt to seek a resolution to the growing anger over an EU directive, which has already banned turf cutting on 31 raised bogs in the west and midlands, with the ban due to be extended to a further 24 more by the end of the year. In 2013, a further ban on over 75 areas of natural heritage will come in to force. The cutting of blanket bog in SACs will be allowed to continue.
The compensation package promises individual turf cutters barred from saving turf on raised bogs €1,000 a year for 15 years. This figure has been heavily criticised by Cllr Holmes as a fraction of the cost of annual central heating or gas-funding requirements.
Cllr Holmes says that since the downturn in the economy and the increased price of oil and gas more people were relying on turf again. “The bogs have been handed down to us and we are determined not to let them die.”
“If we do we will be handing down a very poor legacy to the people who come after us.”
In February, farmers in the Nephin Range, which is now designated as a Special Protected Area (SPA), complained that they were not afforded adequate compensation for their loss of income when they were directed to take their animals from the hills.
Roscommon South Leitrim TD Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan claims that 376 people out of 1,200 who relinquished bogland to the state under a previous special conservation scheme are still waiting for their payment.
He says Fine Gael gave a clear indication prior to the election that nobody would be prevented from cutting turf. However Cllr Holmes says they have since taken a “complete u-turn”.
Cllr Holmes says the people of Mayo and Roscommon are not looking for compensation but are instead seeking to continue to cut our own turf.
A recent public meeting at the Castlecourt Hotel, Westport, was attended by over 1,000 people, while thousands of people met in Athlone last week to discuss the issue.
Glenamaddy native Michael Fitzmaurice Chairman of the Turf Cutters and Contractors Association (TCCA) has vowed that despite the ban, “turf cutting will continue.”
He said that there has been a significant increase of around 40 per cent in the number of people cutting and saving turf since the economic downturn. People have more time and less disposable income, making oil and gas consumption less and less viable, he explained.
The association has rejected the suggestion from Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan who implied that there was a possibility for turf-cutters to harvest turf on bogs not covered by the new EU directive. The association responded by stating that these do not simply exist.
Deputy Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan has warned the dispute could accelerate in to a row as fraught as the one concerning the Corrib gas project: “They are not for consultation, they are for ramming this down our throats, and I can tell you, what happened down in Bellanaboy will be a teddy bears’ picnic compared to this. TCCA is not and has never been about compensation.”