Lessons Must be Learned from Slievenamon Fire

IFA President Francie Gorman said there are stark lessons to be learned about how the Slievenamon fire has been handled.

“I visited the site yesterday with our Munster Regional Chair Conor O’Leary, Farm Forestry Chair Padraic Stapleton and South Tipperary Chair Darragh Scott. While everyone was doing their best to address the issue, it should have happened much earlier and there has to be greater co-ordination in trying to slow down and ultimately put out the fire,” he said.

“We need to see an emergency response approach to ensure the full resources of the State are deployed urgently. I will be writing to the National Emergency Co-ordination Group (NECG) to ask them to have a special meeting on planning for wildfires,” he said.

“There is a lot of media coverage of the contribution of the Air Corps service this morning, but the reality is that local farmers and contractors put in a sterling effort themselves with tractors, tankers and diggers creating firebreaks,” he said.

IFA South Tipperary Chair Darragh Scott said that local farmers deserve huge credit for what they did.

“They worked through the night to draw water and clear vegetation to protect their neighbours,” he said.

In conclusion, the IFA President said the management of mountain areas was becoming a big issue.

“There are also lessons to be learned here about how the mountain has been managed or not managed. The lack of management has created a tinder box of vegetation which will create a huge risk if a fire starts. There must be a discussion about how we are managing these areas,” he said.