Latest news with #BordnaMóna
RTÉ News
5 days ago
- Business
- RTÉ News
Bord na Móna Recycling workers to take strike action
Waste collection services by Bord na Móna Recycling could be disrupted later this month after SIPTU members at the company served notice of strike action in a dispute over the planned sale of the business. The workers have rejected a Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) proposal aimed at resolving the row. The action will begin with a one-day strike on Thursday 19 June, escalating to two days the following week and three days the week after. Bord na Móna Recycling provides waste collection services for homes and businesses across Leinster and north Munster. In February, Bord na Móna said it had reached an agreement to sell its recycling business to KWD Recycling, subject to regulatory approval. SIPTU said the primary reason for rejecting the WRC proposal was the company's failure to agree to a Registered Employment Agreement (REA), which would guarantee worker protections for terms and conditions in the event of a sale. "The fire sale of Bord na Móna Recycling is bad for workers, customers, and the environment," said SIPTU Divisional Organiser Adrian Kane. "It makes no economic or environmental sense," Mr Kane said. Bord na Móna described the planned industrial action as "extremely disappointing", adding that its agreed industrial relations procedures with SIPTU provide that the next stage is a referral of the matter to the Labour Court. "If the action proceeds, we will endeavour to keep any disruption to waste collection services to a minimum, with alternative collections to be scheduled for impacted customers and will keep customer service channels available as usual to support customers," a spokesperson said. "We remain committed to reaching a resolution and urge SIPTU to fully engage with our agreed IR (Industrial Relations) procedures, setting aside this action to allow the matter to be referred to the Labour Court," Bord na Móna said.
Agriland
03-06-2025
- General
- Agriland
Breeding common cranes spotted in Co. Offaly bog
Bord na Móna has confirmed that a pair of common cranes have nested at a bog in Co. Offaly for the seventh consecutive year. The pair have successfully reared five chicks in the last three years, and have recently been spotted at the nesting spot by a Bord na Móna ecologist. Following careful monitoring, it has been established that the pair are once again incubating eggs. According to Bord na Móna, breeding cranes are a 'returning species' in Ireland, as cranes were formerly lost as a breeding bird. It said that initial breeding attempts were made by a single pair in 2019, 2020, and 2021. This followed successful breeding in 2022, 2023, and 2024, which marks the first time in several hundred years that the species is part of Ireland's breeding avifauna. Cranes An ecologist at Bord na Móna monitoring the birds since 2022, Chris Cullen believes that the birds are benefitting from habitat improvements associated with Bord na Móna's Peatland Climate Action Scheme (PCAS). He said: 'Over the last two breeding periods, the nesting pair and their young have been seen utilising recently rehabilitated cutaway peatlands for feeding and shelter. 'In addition, over the last number of years, several summering but non-breeding individuals have also been observed on other rehabilitated cutaway bogs in the midlands.' 'It appears a nascent breeding population is possibly becoming established, with clear links to rehabilitated peatlands in terms of usage,' Cullen added. The PCAS is a large-scale peatlands restoration project administered by the Department of the Environment, Climate, and Communications, and regulated by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. It is hoped that the ongoing development of wetland habitats following rehabilitation under the present scheme will continue to support the expansion of this newly returned species in Ireland. The location of the nest is confidential in order to protect and conserve the birds. However, Bord na Móna has confirmed that the site is situated on a cutaway bog formerly used to harvest peat for energy production.
RTÉ News
03-06-2025
- General
- RTÉ News
Rare cranes return to Offaly bog for seventh year
A pair of rare common cranes, which have previously nested at a bog in Co Offaly, have returned for a seventh consecutive year. The pair, which have successfully reared five chicks in the last three years, have been seen back at their favoured nesting site by an ecologist working for Bord na Móna (BnM). Following careful monitoring it has now been established that the pair are once again incubating eggs. The location of the nest is confidential in order to protect and conserve the birds. However, it is confirmed that the site is situated on a cutaway bog, formerly used to harvest peat for energy production. "These birds are now benefitting further from habitat improvements associated with BnM's Peatland Climate Action Scheme (PCAS)" said Chris Cullen, Ecologist at BnM, who has been monitoring the Cranes since 2022. "Over the last two breeding periods, the nesting pair and their young have been seen utilising recently rehabilitated cutaway peatlands for feeding and shelter" he said. "In addition, over the last number of years, several summering, but non-breeding individuals, have also been observed on other rehabilitated cutaway bogs in the Midlands" said Mr Cullen. "It appears a nascent breeding population is possibly becoming established, with clear links to rehabilitated peatlands in terms of usage" he added. The Peatland Climate Action Scheme is a large-scale peatlands restoration project administered by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and regulated by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. Over 20,000 hectares has been rehabilitated under this Scheme to date. It is hoped that the ongoing development of wetland habitats following rehabilitation under the present scheme will continue to support the expansion of this newly returned species in Ireland. The crane is deeply connected to the culture and history of Ireland. They have been central to folklore tales such as Fionn Mac Cumhaill, the druids, St Colmcille and the Book of Kells.
Irish Times
31-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Ireland's remaining bogs can have a second tale - of creation rather than extraction
Earlier this week a family friend shared a newspaper article from the early 1980s by the late UK gardening correspondent Graham Rose. In it he wrote about Ireland's 10,000-year-old bogs, many with a carpet of peat 30ft deep. Over 100 sq miles, the bog was all he could see; a vast, 'horizon-to-horizon emptiness' that held a 'strange, eerie beauty'. Rose didn't dwell on the bog's splendour . Instead, he said it was a hostile, lifeless expanse. 'An undrained bog is 95 per cent water, a hazardous place for large animals and for man.' His words reflected the narrative of the time, which I remember as a primary school kid in the late 1980s. The story of Irish bogs was one of dull, empty wastelands: bleak and sodden places with a menacing edge. If you wandered too far in, the bog might swallow you whole. Rose described the 'peasant farmers' who, for generations, had cut peat as a vital fuel source. Then, in 1946, the establishment of Bord na Móna marked the beginning of the industrial-scale extraction of peat to power Ireland's electricity stations. When European gardeners discovered that peat was a 'wondrous new horticultural elixir', Rose wrote, a new market was created. In 1965, Bord na Móna opened a moss peat factory at Cúil na Móna bog in Laois to produce horticultural peat. By the 1980s, when Rose visited, British gardeners were buying more than a million bales each year. Rose gives an unflinching description of how a virgin-raised bog is drained. 'The attack is mounted by giant ditch-cutting machines and – more dangerously – by dynamiting and digging.' The bog is left to dry and shrink for five years, after which it's ready for removal. Mechanical cutters with 'steel teeth' carve blocks of peat, which are then lifted by '375ft arms suspended by hawsers from 60ft steel towers'. The peat is then 'simply torn apart' before being compressed into bales and sold. READ MORE A Cúil na Móna Laois peat factory manager told Rose that peat extraction would cease after 30 to 40 years, after which the 'fine new' land would be reclaimed for agriculture. 'At farms and nurseries on recently-reclaimed bog, magnificent beef cattle are fattening on knee-high grass, vegetables are flourishing, and hybrid rhododendrons and azaleas are growing more rapidly than anywhere else in the British Isles.' For decades, bogs offered locals opportunities, and peat shaped their lives. In the peak production years (the 1950s to the 1980s), employment in the peat industry spared thousands of workers an otherwise inevitable fate of emigration. They worked hard, earned a decent living and brought economic vitality to towns and villages. These workers contributed an immense amount to their communities and Ireland's energy needs at the time. When Rose wrote his piece, the term ' biodiversity ' had yet to be coined. At that time, voices urging us to understand and cherish the bogs, like those of film-makers Éamon de Buitléar and Gerrit van Gelderen, were too few and easy to ignore; in later years, even legal threats from the European Commission didn't stop the Irish government in its tracks. The dominant narrative endured: bogs were places to be drained and their sods sold for profit. We now understand the greater cost. Home to unique species of spiders, insect-eating plants and birds on the brink of extinction, such as the curlew , industrial peat extraction has left bogs – what David Attenborough calls 'cradles of biodiversity' – stripped bare and emptied of life. Bogs act as industrial-sized natural sponges, soaking up water and shielding lowland areas from floods. Unlike trees, a living, healthy bog will capture carbon indefinitely, with no time limit; they'll soak up more carbon per square metre than almost any other ecosystem on Earth. [ Loving our Irish bogs: 'Once you conserve the habitat, the biodiversity will right itself' Opens in new window ] The language of extraction, drain blocking and industrial peat production is quickly fading, replaced by a new vocabulary centred on creation – of restoration, rehabilitation and rewetting. This shift has occurred at pace; for many people in the midlands, peat was more than just a fuel for their homes or a source of income – it became woven into their cultural heritage. Their stories must not be forgotten or left unheard. The midland counties are now included in the EU's €392 billion Just Transition Fund, which supports regions across Europe historically dependent on coal, oil shale, peat and other fossil fuels. Ireland's allocation totals €169 million, co-funded by the Irish Government. In Abbeyleix last week, at a gathering for the €12 million Tóchar Wetlands Restoration Project, funded by the Just Transition initiative, Offaly geologist, botanist and writer John Feehan recalled his time spent on the bogs in the 1950s. Back then, he said, the bogs stretched on forever – places so vast you'd need a compass if you got lost. In today's world, it's hard to fathom the 'immense silence' offered by such great stretches of wilderness. Under the three-year Tóchar project, a select group of degraded bogs will be put on the path to restoration. Bringing a bog back to life is a gradual process that will unfold over a timescale way beyond our own lifetimes. Feehan describes it as a recovery 'not easily hurried'; one that, over centuries, will see these habitats become 'richer as time goes by, as nature re-establishes its green hold over the bog'. [ 'Thanks to the bogs, life will continue. Just not ours': The Irish bog and our national psyche Opens in new window ] Bogs have offered us so much, and many are now lost forever. For the small fragments that remain, it's a blessing that we can at least attempt to bring them, in Feehan's words, 'back to the local embrace'. Their story – one of abundance and life – will continue; all they need is for us to step back and allow time to do its work.
The Journal
21-04-2025
- General
- The Journal
Quiz: How much do you know about long-billed birds?
TODAY, AS WE'RE sure you're already well aware, is World Curlew Day. The red-listed wader has become a symbol of how some iconic Irish bird species are under threat. A range of factors, from habitat loss to modern farming practices, leave their survival as a species hanging in the balance. Advertisement To mark the day, we've pulled together a quiz featuring several long-billed ( or, in some cases, maybe, long-beaked ) birds. What is the average length of a female Eurasian curlew's bill? Shutterstock 5cm Roughly 14cm At least 100cm 200cm Which bird has the longest break relative to its body size? Shutterstock The swordbilled hummingbird Shutterstock The great white pelican Shutterstock The bar-tailed godwit Shutterstock The coal tit Common cranes are nesting in rewetted peatlands in the Midlands. What's so special about that? Shutterstock It is the only location in the world where cranes nest inland. It is the only place cranes are found in the Old World. Cranes only started successfully breeding in Ireland again in 2021, the first time in hundreds of years. The cranes waged a guerrilla insurgency against Bord na Móna in the area for many years. After ultimately forcing their withdrawal, the birds rewetted the bog themselves. Nothing, actually. This is a spoonbill. What term is used to describe the shape of its beak? Shutterstock Recurved Spatulate Depressed Stout When did Guinness first run an ad campaign featuring the toco toucan? Shutterstock 1890s 1930s 1980s 2000s Kiwis look like they have a long bill, but in terms of how bill length is calculated, it's actually the shortest of any bird (let's not get into that right now). Can they fly? Shutterstock Yes No :-( What are they? Shutterstock Turnstones Lapwings Oystercatchers Sanderlings In love How would you describe a heron's call? Shutterstock They kinda just scream, right? It's very similar to (and often confused for) a wood pigeon. They are silent, except for some barely audible courtship calls. A rapid ticking. Why do cormorants do this? Shutterstock No one knows. They're just showing off (no, really — they're trying to attract a mate). They release an oil under their wings which attracts insects, which they then chow down on. Unlike other waterfowl, they can't make their feathers fully waterproof, so they have to dry them off (not ideal for a bird which hunts by diving underwater). What is the longest possible length of a bird's bill? Shutterstock 60cm 125cm There surely must be some physical limit, but it's probably hard to define? Given the potentially infinite nature of our universe, and also the potential that infinite other universes exist beyond ours, it would be foolish for us to presume there is an upper limit, as birds could exist elsewhere in a form us mere humans can't comprehend. Answer all the questions to see your result! You scored out of ! You are long-billed curlew Shutterstock Share your result: Share Tweet You scored out of ! You are a black-tailed godwit Shutterstock Share your result: Share Tweet You scored out of ! You are a great white egret Shutterstock Share your result: Share Tweet You scored out of ! You are a blackbird Shutterstock Share your result: Share Tweet You scored out of ! You are a dunnock Shutterstock Share your result: Share Tweet Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
