Midlands meeting on future of turf cutting

High-profile rural TDs Michael Healy-Rae and Michael Fitzmaurice, along with MEP Matt Carty, are expected to address an urgent meeting on the future of turf cutting which is due to take place in Clara on Tuesday of next week, March 22.

The meeting, which has been organised by Westmeath woman Christina Devine, will take place in the grounds of Clara Market on Tuesday at 5pm and is expected to be attended by families from across Offaly, Westmeath and East Galway who are directly affected by the cessation of turf cutting.

“This issue is a huge crisis for many families, particularly older people who have no other option but to burn turf, and they are not allowed access their turf banks at the moment, it is an outrageous situation,” said Ms Devine, who cuts turf on a bog in Ballivor, north Westmeath.

She told the Offaly Independent that people need to “stand up and fight for the right to heat our homes” and she decided to hold the meeting in Clara due to the fact that Offaly is one of the counties worst affected by the decision of Bord na Móna to cease turf cutting on their bogs.

“We have been locked out of the turf banks we have used for generations because drains have been dug across the bogs,” claimed Christina Devine, “and there has been no just transition for us.”

Next week’s meeting will get underway at 5pm on Tuesday evening, March 22, in the grounds of Clara Market and the organisers are hoping for a huge turnout of families who have been affected by the cessation of turf cutting, as well as local and national political representatives.