A decision on whether to allow farmers to burn vegetation during March will be made in the “next few days”, the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht has confirmed to AgriLand.
The department highlighted that Minister Josepha Madigan can make certain necessary regulations to allow burning during March, and said that the issue was being looked at by the department.
“It is expected that a decision on burning in March will be made in the next few days which will take account of the content of submissions received, and of the weather conditions in the recent period on the basis of data provided by Met Eireann,” the department outlined.
“The department has published draft regulations and best practice guidelines on controlled burning, and interested parties were invited to submit their views on the draft documents by January 31,” the department explained.
The department said that around 30 of these submissions were received, and are being examined.
Gorse fires
During the past week, firefighters from Dublin and Wicklow have been battling a series of gorse fires in the Dublin Mountains.
According to Darren O’Connor, sub-officer with Dublin Fire Brigade, the recent dry spell was the primary cause of the fires – dry vegetation is much more likely to catch fire.
“It’s just the dryness of the fuel. It has been exceptionally dry over the past week,” he said, speaking on RTE‘s Morning Ireland.
He pointed out that some of the fires in the area started as controlled burnings on agricultural land, but added that, in general, they were “very-well controlled by farmers”.