Minister withdraws prosecution against Mayo farmer for mowing his field

A PROSECUTION brought against an Erris farmer who was accused of mowing his field in breach of regulations designed to protect the corncrake was withdrawn by the State.

Peter Lavelle of Carne, Belmullet was accused of ignoring a notice not to mow his field which was located close to where the protected corncrake was nesting in 2020.

The case was the first of its kind brought by the Minister of Housing, Local Government and Heritage under the European Union (Conservation of Wild Birds (Mullet Peninsula Special Protection Area)) Regulations 2013.

At a sitting of Belmullet District Court on Wednesday, Ms Helen Johnson, counsel for the Minister, told Judge Fiona Lydon that the Minister was withdrawing the prosecution against Mr Lavelle.

Ms Johnson gave no reason for the decision to withdraw the prosecution despite evidence against Mr Lavelle having been part-heard in the district court in January.

The Mullet Peninsula on Mayo’s north-west coast is one of the 'last remaining outposts' for the corncrake and the regulations were introduced in 2013 in order to protect breeding corncrakes.

The migratory bird arrives on Irish shores from Africa in spring and uses traditional hay meadows to nest before returning to Africa in September. The corncrake has largely disappeared from Ireland apart from peripheral areas of Galway, Mayo and Donegal and for this reason has become known as the 'Bird of the Gaeltacht'.

At the January sitting of the court, evidence was given that in April 2020 a corncrake was located in a field in Emly Beg North on the Mullet Peninsula within a designated Special Protection Area (SPA).

In order to protect the corncrake, landowners in an area 250 metres from where the bird was located were notified that under the EU regulations, the mowing of fields was prohibited until September 1, 2020. Ms Johnson said that Mr Lavelle was made aware that the mowing of grass was prohibited but he mowed his field in June of that year.

Mr Lavelle contested the charge on the grounds that only a small corner of his field which was mowed was located within a 250 metre buffer zone of where the corncrake was located.

Peter Loftus, solicitor for Mr Lavelle argued that his client only encroached into the 250m buffer zone by around ten metres and if the location of the corncrake was pinpointed ten metres to the north, there would have been no restrictions on his client mowing his field.

Ms Johnson refuted this saying there are no exceptions to allow Mr Lavelle to mow the field as his field is within an SPA. Under the regulations, she said, once he is notified of the presence of the corncrake he can only mow the field before September 1 with the permission of the Minister, which he did not receive.

The case was adjourned to allow for Mr Loftus to examine notes taken by an official who reported hearing the corncrake in 2020.

However, when the case was called in Belmullet District Court this morning, Ms Johnson said that the prosecution was being withdrawn.

Mr Loftus explained that Mr Lavelle was at loss as a result of the prosecution because €1,600 in farm payments were withheld from him. Mr Loftus said his client is a pensioner and a small farmer and asked for enhanced legal aid due to the unusual prosecution and that he had been successful in defending his client. He also pointed out that the Minister had retained the services of a barrister in Ms Johnson to prosecute the case.

Ms Johnson said the Minister was not objecting to the application and Judge Lydon granted enhanced legal aid to Mr Loftus.