Nursery plant growers from across the country are to hold a protest outside the Convention Centre to highlight their frustration at the ban on peat harvesting, which is leading to imports of the product.

Currently, harvesting cannot take place on bogs larger than 30ha and this has led to imports from other countries such as Poland.

The demonstration will take place on Tuesday 13 July and spokesperson for Kildare Growers, which is organising the protest, Larry Doran says they are at the “end of their tether”.

“Until now, this has been Irish growers providing jobs and growing plants for the Irish environment," he said.

"The peat used in potting is returned to the soil when the trees are planted; it is not burnt or destroyed like peat used for the production of burning.

"It is completely different, as it continues to store its carbon in the soil biosphere,” Doran said.

'No sustainable alternatives'

“Right now, there are no sustainable alternatives to Irish peat for growing plants in Ireland and the Green Party is acutely aware of this and the cessation of Irish horticultural peat production forces us to import inferior quality growing material, from the Balkans or Malaysia, 2,300km and 10,000km from our shores respectively.

"This will have a compounding detrimental effect on the environment, as we as a people strive to keep our obligations to the Paris Agreement.”

Input to economy

He pointed out that the horticulture industry is worth €437m to the economy and that just 0.4% of total Irish peatlands are used for the harvesting of horticultural peat.

He also pointed out that 6,600 people were directly employed in the industry.

“The Green Party found itself the subject of much ridicule when its party leader Eamon Ryan mooted the idea of carpooling for rural communities and releasing wolves into the countryside, but to us, a Green Party that is not protecting the Irish environment is the biggest joke of all and one that is causing tears and not laughter in the Irish horticultural industry.”

“Does the Green Party want to go down in history as potentially being the party responsible for the demise of what they say is one of the greenest industries in Ireland - it is beyond absurd.”

The IFA will also be taking part in the demonstration outside the Convention Centre.