PROTEST:FINE GAEL MEP Gay Mitchell was confronted by turf cutters yesterday when he and Taoiseach Enda Kenny were heckled in east Galway on a presidential election canvass.
The Irish Turf Cutters’ and Contractors’ Association has said it will target the two Government parties during the election campaign. The association, representing farmers and landowners concerned about restrictions on 54 peatland areas, also protested outside a fundraising function for Labour Party candidate Michael D Higgins in Galway on Sunday.
Mr Kenny struck a conciliatory note in Galway city when he acknowledged it was a “sensitive issue” but one which had not been dealt with for 14 years by a government which “signed up” to commitments under the EU habitats directive which it had not kept.
Mr Kenny called for a “rational” approach, and said a meeting to seek a resolution would take place in the next two weeks between Minister for Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht Affairs Jimmy Deenihan and farmers’ leaders from two south Galway bogs.
A group of association members, including chairman Michael Fitzmaurice and Independent TD Luke “Ming” Flanagan, expressed anger when they met Mr Kenny and Mr Mitchell at Tuam mart, and later in Ballinasloe.
Mr Deenihan “could no longer be trusted to deal with it”, Mr Fitzmaurice said, given the new restrictions he had signed up to on behalf of the Government. Late last month, Mr Deenihan signed a statutory instrument implementing extra powers to protect habitats under the EU directive.
“We were working with the Peatlands Council, and seeking ways to relocate farmers who were affected by the restrictions on cutting on some 54 bogs, when Mr Deenihan went behind our backs,” Mr Fitzmaurice said.
“Mr Deenihan’s so-called meeting in a fortnight’s time is actually with two groups in south Galway who are affiliated to us, and it will probably take place after the presidential vote, which is no good to us now,” Mr Fitzmaurice said.
Fianna Fáil Galway county councillor Michael Connolly also questioned Mr Kenny’s commitment to the issue. “Enda Kenny promised to work for the turf cutters seeking fuel for domestic use during the general election campaign,” Mr Connolly said.
He pointed out that the Roscommon Herald had recorded Mr Kenny as promising Fine Gael would implement the EU habitats directive in a “pragmatic and commonsense way”. Mr Kenny had said this in February when in Roscommon to canvass support for his party’s general election candidates Denis Naughten and Frank Feighan, both now TDs.
The European Commission has denied claims by the association that EU law favours industrial turf cutters over small farmers and operators.
The Government says it may face huge fines if turf cutting on sensitive habitats continues.
