Curtailing turf cutting in rasied bogs

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Guest105

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Let us deal with the thorny issue of curtailing turf cutting in rasied bogs first of all before we move onto the issue of smokey coal.
 
cashier said:
Let us deal with the thorny issue of curtailing turf cutting in rasied bogs first of all before we move onto the issue of smokey coal.
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Yes - end the double standards - and have bord na mona desist from cutting. Traditional cutters are exactly that - following an age old practice. There is no comparison between what BnM do and what your average traditional cutter carries out..
 
Yes most traditional bog users use machines nowadays for turf cutting but only enough for their own consumption, it doesn't matter whether they cut it with a slane or with a machine they still only cut enough to last the winter season.
 
ajapale said:
Only a very small percentage of turf is won by hand cutting by slane in the traditional way.
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cashier said:
Yes most traditional bog users use machines nowadays for turf cutting but only enough for their own consumption, it doesn't matter whether they cut it with a slane or with a machine they still only cut enough to last the winter season.
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I wasn't suggesting they used the slane! :rolleyes: That doesn't mean to say it's not traditional. In the past it was the slane, now it's mechanical - but the outcome is the same i.e. enough turf to last a season. i.e. the tradition continues.

Now, the proposal is to ban this outright - and let bord na mona cut on an industrial scale? How can you justify that!
 
It is terrible for rural people and the compensation package being offered is a pittance. A relative of mine was offered €1000 for the year barely enough to fill a few trailers
 
Ive come late to this discussion but is this Cork Examiner piece a fair reflection of the situation?

[broken link removed]
About 130 special areas of conservation (SACs) were identified, some of which were owned by Bord na Móna and Coillte. The NPWS now owns some of these sites, while the EU funded Coillte to restore the bogs in its ownership.

The other primary stakeholder in the SACs are people with rights to cut turf dating back centuries. However, instead of tackling the issues at the time in 1999, then heritage minister Síle de Valera introduced a 10-year derogation giving turf-cutters a decade to stop cutting turf. The State also offered to buy the plots or swap their plot for a nearby turf bank outside the conservation areas.

However, turf-cutters, angry at the lack of consultation with them on the derogation, simply continued as before and cut their turf while the then government seemed happy to put the issue on the long finger.

The EU was not happy with the derogation and took infringement proceedings against the government in 1999 claiming that the move was illegal. It also took a case against Ireland in January of this year.

The State announced the end of the derogation in 2010 and cutting is no longer allowed on 53 raised bogs. This will increase to 75 by 2013.

So what does the science say? According to a government-funded four-year report by the EPA, despite peat soil covering about 20% of Ireland, very few peatlands remain in their natural state, while no intact raised boglands survive. As well as acting as a long-term carbon store, peatlands were identified as Ireland’s "last great area of wilderness".

The current Government set up the Peatlands Council to try and solve the problem.
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i agree there is double standards, but don't agree that people should be able to cut whatever they want just because its "for their own consumption" which often its not - its bagged and sold locally as a nice little black market earner.
Gone are the days of the bawnogues and communal grazing, how is this not really the same? Couldn't one say the culchies have had it good with practically free fuel for long enough... runs and hides....
 
cashier said:
It is terrible for rural people and the compensation package being offered is a pittance. A relative of mine was offered €1000 for the year barely enough to fill a few trailers
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imho if your fuel bills are more than a grand a year, its your house that's the problem..
 
Bord na Mona don't cut on intact raised bogs. That's a strawman argument there.
 
cashier said:
Yes most traditional bog users use machines nowadays for turf cutting but only enough for their own consumption, it doesn't matter whether they cut it with a slane or with a machine they still only cut enough to last the winter season.
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It always amazes me how, despite year after year of cutting turf, people still manage to cut too much for themselves and are forced to sell it off on donedeal / buyandsell etc. and even after that have a few trailer loads that they can donate to their mother/brother/sister living in dublin.
 
bullbars said:
It always amazes me how, despite year after year of cutting turf, people still manage to cut too much for themselves and are forced to sell it off on donedeal / buyandsell etc. and even after that have a few trailer loads that they can donate to their mother/brother/sister living in dublin.
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they got their future needs/growth estimates wrong...happens all the time in this country...Dept of Finance, Property and Planning lol
 
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