For peat’s sake, let people harvest on our bogs – Hill
There is ample bogland in Westmeath to accommodate people who wish to harvest peat for agricultural and horticultural purposes, and the government should make provisions to allow people to do so, says Fianna Fáil’s Cllr Paddy Hill.
Cllr Hill, speaking at last week’s Mullingar Kinnegad municipal district meeting, said that moves to curb all kinds of peat harvesting for environmental reasons are not grounded in common sense.
He said that it would come as a surprise to people the extent to which farmers use peat as bedding for animals.
“It soaks up moisture, and then when the farmer is finished with it, it can be spread on the land,” he said.
However, no licences had been issued over the last 12 months, and people who normally use peat for agricultural or horticultural purposes are running out. Now, Cllr Hill added, the government is paying tillage farmers to plough their straw into the ground instead of baling it. As a result, the prices of bales of straw are going up, making it more expensive for farmers to feed their animals.
Cllr Hill called on the government to issue licences to people to harvest peat for horticultural and agricultural purposes, calling it “an important issue for rural Ireland”.
He was supported by Fine Gael’s Cllr Frank McDermott, who acknowledged the “huge impact” on farming. “It would be ridiculous if we had to start importing peat from the likes of Germany and we having acres of bogland here,” he said.
Cllr Denis Leonard (Labour) also backed Cllr Hill’s motion. He said that Irish peat is “far superior” to European alternatives. He said that he understood there was a need to protect raised bogs, and that the industry had been “given a bad name” by illegal harvesting. “But the vast majority of people involved in peat harvesting are not in this category,” he said.
Cllr Hazel Smyth (Green Party) opposed the motion. She questioned whether or not it was “out of order” for a subject of national relevance to be raised as a motion in a district meeting.
Cllr Smyth that there is an onus on the state to protect its boglands. “There is a national conversation happening right now around the future of solid fuels, and I think a motion like this should be directed there,” she added.
However, Cllr Hill said that the matter was entirely relevant to a district meeting, given the fact that the Mullingar Kinnegad municipal district in particular is home to extensive bogland – “thousands of acres”, which could be used for both preservation and harvesting.
“Rural Ireland is a bit annoyed at some of what’s happening,” he said, pointing to the fact that burning of timber is now discouraged, while Bord na Móna has ceased production of peat briquettes. He wondered what “Mickey or Johnny or Maggie” in rural areas were going to burn to warm their houses.
“We need to be careful about bringing in too much too soon,” Cllr Hill continued. “Some of those people preaching from on high, I don’t think they understand rural Ireland. But they’ll understand it when the opportunity arises in a couple of years time when they have to go out on the doorsteps [looking for votes].”
“This is a just transition,” Cllr Leonard added, referring to the winding down of the peat industry. “There are just transition funds, and just transition policies, and I think a just transition will allow to use to continue using a quality product until some alternative which meets the needs of rural Ireland can be met.
“But we can’t throw the baby out with the bath water with environmental legislation. I agree with protecting our bogs, but we have to protect rural Ireland too.”
Martin Murray, Mullingar Kinnegad area director of services, said that members could write to the government on the matter if they so wished. The motion was passed.