Upcoming Events

National | Environment

no events match your query!

New Events

National

no events posted in last week

Blog Feeds

Anti-Empire

Anti-Empire

offsite link Ukraine Shoots Down F-16 With Patriot, A... Sat Aug 31, 2024 11:53 | Anti-Empire

offsite link Surprise Offensive Puts 300 km² of Russ... Fri Aug 09, 2024 08:44 | Marko Marjanović

offsite link The Wholesome Photo of the Month Thu May 09, 2024 11:01 | Anti-Empire

offsite link In 3 War Years Russia Will Have Spent $3... Thu May 09, 2024 02:17 | Anti-Empire

offsite link UK Sending Missiles to Be Fired Into Rus... Tue May 07, 2024 14:17 | Marko Marjanović

Anti-Empire >>

Human Rights in Ireland
Promoting Human Rights in Ireland

Human Rights in Ireland >>

Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link Buckingham University Reported to Watchdog After Vice-Chancellor ?Pushed Out for Holding Right-Wing ... Sun Nov 03, 2024 09:00 | Will Jones
The higher education watchdog has been urged to investigate a "political" campaign to oust Buckingham University?s Vice-Chancellor for being too "Right-wing".
The post Buckingham University Reported to Watchdog After Vice-Chancellor “Pushed Out for Holding Right-Wing views” appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Welcome to Sadiq Khan?s London: Where Images of Wedding Cake and Hotdogs Are Banned But Radical Isla... Sun Nov 03, 2024 07:00 | Steven Tucker
Welcome to Sadiq Khan's London, says Steven Tucker: where images of women in swimwear, wedding cake and hotdogs are banned but radical Islamic preachers burning dollars are welcome.
The post Welcome to Sadiq Khan’s London: Where Images of Wedding Cake and Hotdogs Are Banned But Radical Islamic Preachers Burning Dollars Are Welcome appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link News Round-Up Sun Nov 03, 2024 00:32 | Will Jones
A summary of the most interesting stories in the past 24 hours that challenge the prevailing orthodoxy about the ?climate emergency?, public health ?crises? and the supposed moral defects of Western civilisation.
The post News Round-Up appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Why Are Those Who Bravely Stood for Bodily Autonomy in Covid Turning Their Back on it Now? Sat Nov 02, 2024 17:00 | Dr David Bell
Dr. David Bell laments that some of the people he grew to greatly respect for standing for bodily autonomy during Covid are now succumbing to the tribalism of treating some people as of lesser worth.
The post Why Are Those Who Bravely Stood for Bodily Autonomy in Covid Turning Their Back on it Now? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Homeowners Face £13k Mortgage Shock After Reeves?s Budget Sat Nov 02, 2024 15:00 | Will Jones
Homeowners face paying an extra £13,000 on their mortgages following Rachel Reeves?s high-spend Budget that the OBR predicts will drive up mortgage rates from 3.7% to 4.5%.
The post Homeowners Face £13k Mortgage Shock After Reeves’s Budget appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Lockdown Skeptics >>

Voltaire Network
Voltaire, international edition

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N°106 Fri Nov 01, 2024 12:21 | en

offsite link Luis Arce allegedly planned the assassination of his rival Evo Morales Fri Nov 01, 2024 12:12 | en

offsite link In Kazan, the order of the world changed , by Thierry Meyssan Tue Oct 29, 2024 07:01 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N°105 Sat Oct 26, 2024 05:27 | en

offsite link Settlers prepare for 'resettlement in Gaza' Fri Oct 25, 2024 12:46 | en

Voltaire Network >>

Semi-state accused of declaring Brexit for 80,000 hectares

category national | environment | press release author Thursday June 18, 2020 20:27author by foie Report this post to the editors

Press Release - Friends of the Irish Environment 16th June 2020

Bord na Móna ‘Enforcement Holiday’ flies in the face of a High Court Judgment
Semi-state accused of declaring Brexit for 80,000 hectares

An ‘enforcement holiday’ currently being exercised by Bord na Mona to allow industrial harvesting to continue this year across its bogs ‘flies in the face of a High Court Judgment’, according to the environmental charity Friends of the Irish Environment [FIE].

FRIENDS OF THE IRISH ENVIRONMENT
PRESS RELEASE
TUESDAY 16 JUNE 2020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Bord na Móna ‘Enforcement Holiday’ flies in the face of a High Court Judgment
Semi-state accused of declaring Brexit for 80,000 hectares

An ‘enforcement holiday’ currently being exercised by Bord na Mona to allow industrial harvesting to continue this year across its bogs ‘flies in the face of a High Court Judgment’, according to the environmental charity Friends of the Irish Environment [FIE].

FIE, who conducted site visits over the weekend to confirm reports they have received over the last two weeks, has published photos and videos on its Facebook page showing full scale harvesting over the weekend at Ballaghurt Bog in County Offaly, part of the Blackwater Bog Group supplying the company’s briquette factory at Derrinlough.

FIE Director Tony Lowes explained that ‘An Bord Pleanala ruled in 2013 industrial extraction of peat on sites of 30 hectares required planning permission, a decision unsuccessfully challenged in the Courts for 5 years until dismissed on 7 December 2018. Next month the Government published a Statutory Instrument purporting to exempt industrial extraction from planning permission. This was subsequently struck down on 20 September 2019 after a further FIE challenge. [See RTE link below].

‘The failed Statutory Instrument gave industrial cutters up to 3 years to continue work, a proposal characterised by Justice Garrett Simons as an ‘enforcement holiday’ that undermined European Environmental law. Calling the legislation a ‘retrograde step’, Justice Simons wrote that ‘It cannot be said that the state has an arguable defence’. No Environmental Impact Assessment had ever been completed on Bord na Mona’s works, a requirement under EU law.’

‘Bord na Móna has applied for Substitute Consent for this site and a decision is due in October but this will only authorise past activity and the semi-state body will still have to apply subsequently for planning permission to do any works. Notwithstanding the High Court, Bord na Móna has continued to extract peat for its power plants, horticulture, and briquette factory’.

Justice Simons further found the shortcomings of the legislation - to ensure that any assessment of a site where peat is extracted on a large scale is both prospective and retrospective - were similar to the previous planning legislation which he said had been condemned by the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Mr. Lowes said that ‘Callers have expressed outrage to us that Bord na Móna has been refusing to allow individuals to continue cutting on their bogs when ignoring the High Court ruling itself. It appears Bord na Mona has declared Brexit for its 80,000 hectares.’

Video:
https://www.facebook.com/FriendsOfTheIrishEnvironment/

See also RTE News:
Environmental group wins landmark case over peat extraction
https://www.rte.ie/news/courts/2019/0920/1077228-peat-bogs-court/

Comment:
Tony Lowes: +353 (0)87 2176316
Daithí Ó hÉalaithe (Irish language) +353 (0)87 6178852

Related Link: https://www.friendsoftheirishenvironment.org/press-releases/17813-bord-na-mona-enforcement-holiday-flies-in-the-face-of-a-high-court-judgment
© 2001-2024 Independent Media Centre Ireland. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by Independent Media Centre Ireland. Disclaimer | Privacy