Thought and Action is encouraging readers and supporters to attend the court hearings in large numbers on 6th March. These four men are not criminals. Last year the Siege of Clonmoylan took place.
http://www.galwaynews.ie/30344-turf-cutters-facing-court-bog-row-escalates
Turf cutters facing court as bog row escalates
February 14, 2013 - 7:00amby Ciaran Tierney
The war which has raged on Co. Galway bogs over the past year looks set to escalate ahead of the new turf-cutting season after four contractors were issued with summonses this week for using machinery in defiance of European Union designations.
In the first case of its kind in Ireland, Gardaí called to the homes of four contractors in South East Galway on Tuesday night and issued them with summonses for cutting turf at Clonmoylan Bog, near Portumna, on August 21 of last year.
The four men are due to appear before Loughrea District Court on Wednesday, March 6, when they can expect to receive support from hundreds of protestors from all over the country who are enraged that they no longer have the right to cut turf on their own land.
The summonses relate to using machinery “without lawful authority” for the “extraction or mining of natural resources”, including turf or peat, contrary to Section 35 (1)(B) and Section 67 (2) of the European Communities (Birds and Natural Habitats) Regulations 2011.
It will be the first time anyone in the State faces prosecution for cutting turf on one of the 53 Special Area of Conservation (SAC) bogs where the EU designations came into effect at the start of last year.
One of the men who received a summons on Tuesday, Michael Darcy, had his machinery seized and later burned out during an emotional 24-hour siege between local people, Gardai, and National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) rangers at Clonmoylan Bog, near Portumna, in June of last year.
Mr Darcy had already considered legal action against the State as a result of the destruction of his machinery and his summons has enraged members of the Barroughter, Clonmoylan, and Ardraigue Bog Action Group (BAG), which represents 900 families in the area.
Mr Darcy has cut turf for local families for three decades and his father was also a contractor who worked with local people on the three bogs.
See full story in this week's Connacht Tribune.
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