Launching a poster campaign in Shannon Harbour, instructing NPWS and Birdwatch Ireland to keep off farmers’ land, the IFA has said the new Government must address long-standing designated land issues.
Tom Turley, IFA SAC Project Team Chairman is helped by young local man Kevin O'Connell with Charlie Killeen (left), Chairman of Shannon Action Group with local land owners at the launch of the IFA poster campaign in Shannon-Harbour, Co. Offaly. Picture: Jeff Harvey
Farmers are on a collision course with the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and environmental groups over land access. Following years of what the IFA describes as failed commitments, NPWS operatives and members of groups such as Birdwatch Ireland are no longer welcome on farms.
Signs are appearing along roadsides the length of the Shannon, stating that both groups must “keep off our land”. The IFA’s refrain of “no designation without compensation” also appears on the signage.
It follows a winter of extreme weather and failure to manage the Shannon’s waterways to minimise risk to farmland, and is allied to the lack of an adequate scheme to compensate farmers along the Shannon Callows.
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IFA Connacht chair Tom Turley said the refusal of the NPWS to allow remedial works take place on rivers and turloughs has contributed to severe flooding.
“Dredging and clearing of rivers will have to take place to alleviate the problems associated with flooding. The NPWS cannot be allowed to stand in the way of this,” he said.
The NPWS said: “It is inaccurate to suggest that the NPWS has obstructed flood-alleviation works.”
It also said it is committed to working with farm organisations.
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Title: Birdwatch banned from flooded farms
Launching a poster campaign in Shannon Harbour, instructing NPWS and Birdwatch Ireland to keep off farmers’ land, the IFA has said the new Government must address long-standing designated land issues.
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Farmers are on a collision course with the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and environmental groups over land access. Following years of what the IFA describes as failed commitments, NPWS operatives and members of groups such as Birdwatch Ireland are no longer welcome on farms.
Signs are appearing along roadsides the length of the Shannon, stating that both groups must “keep off our land”. The IFA’s refrain of “no designation without compensation” also appears on the signage.
It follows a winter of extreme weather and failure to manage the Shannon’s waterways to minimise risk to farmland, and is allied to the lack of an adequate scheme to compensate farmers along the Shannon Callows.
IFA Connacht chair Tom Turley said the refusal of the NPWS to allow remedial works take place on rivers and turloughs has contributed to severe flooding.
“Dredging and clearing of rivers will have to take place to alleviate the problems associated with flooding. The NPWS cannot be allowed to stand in the way of this,” he said.
The NPWS said: “It is inaccurate to suggest that the NPWS has obstructed flood-alleviation works.”
It also said it is committed to working with farm organisations.
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