The Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) has made calls for the Minister of State in the Department of Heritage Malcolm Noonan to allow farmers to burn gorse in a controlled manner into the month of March.

By allowing farmers to do so, the incidence of wildfires could be reduced, the IFA national hill farming chair Cáillin Conneely has said.

“We want to maintain farming in these areas and we fully respect the ecological value of lands with gorse and certain types of grass species,” Conneely said.

“Without farming, these areas would go wild and the incidence of wildfires would significantly increase.

"The minister must take account of how farmers manage their hill land responsibly. Where land is burned, it’s done in a managed way,” he added.

Extension needed

The controlled burning of vegetation is currently banned after the end of February. Challenging ground conditions may have prevented some farmers from being able to carry out such work this February, the hill chair went on.

“Controlled burning will significantly reduce the possibility of uncontrolled fires in April and May, like we have seen in the past.

“Controlled gorse burning before the end of February can be difficult to achieve due to the wetter ground conditions. These conditions prove to be drier in March,” he said.

An extension to the period in which controlled burning is allowed would afford hill farmers the flexibility they need, the IFA has stated.

“Flexibility will allow hill farmers to deal with the practical issues they face in managing their hill farms. Wildfires we have seen in the past can be avoided if the window is extended to include the month of March,” Conneely concluded.