‘Bogs have a purpose, they are a resource’

IT’S an issue that has divided urban and rural classes and sparked huge tensions within the Coalition, but TV architect Dermot Bannon is firmly in favour of the ban on turf cutting.

Attempts to curb the sale and distribution of turf backfired, triggering uproar in the Dáil, splitting the Government parties and fuelling a narrative of urban elites versus rural people.

Dermot is opposed to turf cutting on environmental grounds, saying: ‘I really don’t see why, in this day and age, we are taking fossil fuels out of the ground and burning them.

‘The beauty of bogs is they store carbon. So we’re stripping away a resource that can’t be replaced but also stores huge amounts of carbon. And then we’re burning it, producing more carbon. And bogs have a purpose in our ecosystem.’

Reflecting the town versus country divide in the debate, he admits he’s often on the end of a backlash for his views.