Defiant Irish turf cutters have won a small victory over the European Union with the not guilty verdict that was handed down earlier this week for four men accused of breaching a 2011 European directive in cutting turf from preserved bogland.
The men were facing a €300,000 fine or five years in jail for cutting turf from bogs in Woodford and Portumna in East Co Galway but were found not guilty due to lack of evidence.
However, the directive from the EU remains in place preventing Irish people from cutting turf from numerous Irish bogs, something the people of Ireland have done for thousands of years and a practice that was a mainstay of the Irish way of life for countless generations.
One turf cutters found not guilty told the Irish Mirror
““My message to the EU is hands off our bogs and stop trying to bully our Government and our people.
Private property in Ireland is enshrined in our law and stop bullying people in rural Ireland and come up with other alternatives to preserve bogs.
The Irish Government has this idea we are all eejits and we’re going to lie down. But we won’t and we’ll stay cutting turf and be back out on that bog next month.”
Despite the defiance of these brave Irishmen, the EU is likely to continue to enforce these directives and Irish citizens could face jail for future violations.
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