A Connemara farmer has challenged the National Parks and Wildlife (NPWS) and Department of Culture to take him to court over drainage work he is carrying out on his land in a special area of conservation (SAC).

Loch Con Aortha farmer Seosamh Ó Suilleabháin said the GLAS agri-environment scheme is so unworkable that it makes it impossible for farmers like him to work the land sustainably.

Seventeen of Ó Suilleabháin’s 20ac of land are within the Connemara Bog Complex SAC and he grazes Connemara ponies.

The farmer was previously in the Agri-Environmental Options Scheme (AEOS) and declined the option of switching into GLAS in year three of AEOS.

Money

“When I went to apply for GLAS last December I was told it was closed, and that there was no more money,” he said.

Ó Suilleabháin decided the only option was to drain his land and he notified the NPWS of his intention to do this last February.

He received several notices warning of compliance with SACs conditions from the NPWS’s parent department, the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

“I know the department won’t want to take me to court, because it doesn’t want the EU to know that it is not administering GLAS to farmers like me,” he said.

“Most farmers here are getting no more than €4,000 a year for GLAS, and the conditions are very difficult,” he added.

Permission

“I have to get permission for anything I want to do with that land – so who really owns the land, us or the EU?” he says.

The Department of Culture, Heritage and Gaeltacht said it monitors activities within SACs and takes “appropriate action, as required” but said it would not be appropriate to comment on individual cases.