There are 'lessons to be learned' from Slievenamon fire, says IFA President

THE IFA President has said that more co-ordination is needed in future to prevent wildfires getting out of hand.

Francie Gorman visited the site of the Slievenamon fire in County Tipperary last week, a fire that was started burning again on a section of the mountain yesterday (Tuesday) morning but was reported to have stabilised overall.

The wildfire came about following the hot weather and dry spell during the month, which lead to dead vegetation in areas. Other fires also broke out in Kerry, Wicklow, Dublin, Waterford and Kilkenny over the past number of days.

“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,” said IFA President Francie Gorman of the Slievenamon fire.

“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.

“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.”

“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.”