Turf cutters claim Tullaher ban incorrect

TURF cutters in West Clare have received payments of €220,500 not to cut turf in a protected bog, despite claims from the Turf Cutters and Contractors’ Association (TCCA) that a ban should never have been imposed on the habitat.
The Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht has confirmed that 147 Clare turf cutters, who were previously operating on Tullaher Bog near Moyasta, received a €1,500 payment or a delivery of 15 tonnes of turf to their homes under the Turf Cutting Compensation Scheme (TCCS) this year.
Tullaher Bog is one of the 53 Special Areas of Conservation in the country where all turf cutting is banned – a restriction that was observed by local turf cutters this year.
TCCA chairman, Deputy Luke Ming Flanagan, has claimed that Tullaher Bog was wrongly classified as a raised bog and described it as “transition mire”, which had more similar characteristics to a blanket bog.
In fact, Deputy Flanagan hopes local turf cutters can resume their turbary rights next year once the correct classification is applied to the bog.
However, the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht insists Tullaher Lough and Bog SAC were not wrongly classified as it contains both active raised and degraded raised bog habitat.
A spokesperson explained Tullaher Bog was nominated as one of the 53 raised bog Special Areas of Conservations because it is one of the most western examples of such habitat in Ireland.
“Turf cutters in Tullagher Bog have asked the department to explore the possibility of continued turf cutting on an area of the site, away from the protected raised bog habitat.
“The department is discussing this issue with turf cutters involved and with the European Commission,” she said.
Under the TCCS, 191 applications were received from Clare turf cutters with 164 of these opting for financial compensation and the other 27 expressing an interest in relocation.
Out of the 2,510 applications received in the department under TCCS, 1,763 applicants have opted for financial compensation and 747 applicants have expressed an interest in relocation. A total of 2,008 payments and 180 turf deliveries have been made to applicants at a total cost of €3,282,232.
Deputy Flanagan claimed the current “flawed” scheme isn’t working as it gives an active turf cutter, someone who has been regularly cutting turf €1,500 a year, regardless of how large their plot it. Under an old scheme in the 1990s, he said turf cutters got about  €3,000 an acre.
He stated the TCCA have come up with alternative proposals, which are 2.5 times the area, where turf cutting is banned, as compensatory habitat.
He noted turf was cut in 26 out of the 53 SACs this year and would have been cut in another three only for wet ground conditions.
“We have numerous examples of cases where people have not cut for years and in some cases decades yet they have received compensation. If the purpose of the compensation package was to encourage active turf cutters from practising their centuries-old tradition then it has been a failure,” he added
The Clare committee of TCCA told a peatlands forum chaired by Justice Quirke last April that Tullaher Bog should not have been categorised as a protected habitat because it wasn’t a raised bog. They believe the first designation made about 12 years ago was incorrect. The group is currently working with the National Parks and Wildlife Service NPWS to have this bog reclassified so members can resume cutting turf next year.
The group said their assertion has been confirmed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service scientists following survey work carried out about two months ago, which concluded it was a degraded raised bog.
The NPWS has to get the consent of the EU Commission before this bog can be delisted. The group noted compensation was given on the basis that people couldn’t cut turf in Tullaher this year.
This is one of several site-specific issues that is being discussed between turf cutters, the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, the Peatlands Council and the European Commission as part of the preparation of the National Raised Bog Management Plan, as called for by unanimous vote in Dáil Éireann and agreed with the European Commission last April.
According to the NPWS, Tullaher Lough and Bog contains a diverse series of habitats. It includes open water, Lake Shore, fen-raised bog, wet meadow and willow scrub communities. The flora and fauna of the area is relatively rich.
The lake is a wild bird sanctuary of national status. The area also contains a number of archaeological monuments dating to the early Christian period.
On the eastern side of the heritage zone, a small area of raised bog is being cut for fuel. The cutting in this area is both traditional with a slean and using mechanical excavators. The surface of the intact bog is generally dry and firm though a few wet patches occur and one or two man made pools are present.