Politicians must show leadership when it comes to managing the uplands.
That’s according to Padraic Fogarty, campaigns manager with the Irish Wildlife Trust as the controversial heritage bill comes back before the Dail today.
The bill being put forward by Fine Gael Minister for Arts and Heritage Heather Humphreys would extend gorse-burning and hedge-cutting times.
The farming community is very much in favour of the bill while environmental and wildlife groups are against any extension to the current dates.
Meanwhile Fianna Fail has put forward an amendment calling for the hedgecutting to be restricted to roadsides only if the dates are extended.
Mr. Fogarty says the whole way we manage our uplands needs to be reexamined:
