Éamon Ó Cuív: Argues for Designation and Local Stewardship
Éamon Ó Cuív spoke on conservation policy, arguing that state designation of land — rather than creating national parks everywhere — is the pragmatic way to protect biodiversity. He praised landholders' traditional stewardship, illustrated with Connemara examples, and warned that heavy-handed enforcement can undermine conservation.
National parks and designation
The speaker said he values Connemara National Park but cautioned that creating parks "all over the place" misunderstands Irish land history. He explained that designation is a cheaper, broader state tool that controls many activities on private land and covers far more area than national parks.
Historical land ownership shapes policy
He pointed to Ireland's land wars and the return of land to smaller farmers as key differences from other European models like Scotland's clearances. Using Connemara west of the Corrib as an example, he said much of the landscape is designated — SAC, SPA, or NHA — and that none of it was ever truly wild but was historically farmed and settled.
Local stewardship and biodiversity
He argued the vast majority of landholders care for biodiversity and retain indigenous farming knowledge, noting how older farmers protected wildlife through local practices. He cited an island corncrake project and the role of human-managed landscapes in species recovery as evidence that some management, not total rewilding, can be necessary.
Enforcement, policing and community consent
He warned that policing and conservation "only works with the consent and the support of those being policed," praising people who work for the MPWS who live and work in communities. He said a heavy-handed approach would deliver less conservation than working with local landholders and communities.
Local example and closing
He described walking the Shanmohar route, seeing continued biodiversity and local appreciation, and finished by handing over to Deputy Devlin, noting they had four minutes left.
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Goedemalgwet agus Cairn Siaasaran Gwaddeshaam Cuppla Fockela Rá in Thíav An Ábhar Sia. And first of all, I'm one of the lucky people to have a National Park in my area and there is no doubt that the Connemara National Park, since it was purchased in the late 70s, has made a huge contribution to Connemara. But I think it's simplistic to think that we need National Parks all over the place, because obviously Irish land history is a lot different than most European land history. And because of the land wars of the 19th century and early 20th century, most of the land went back to smaller farmers rather than big ranch type farmers. Or for example what happened in Scotland with the clearances. And that always has to be taken into account. But there has been another way, and a much cheaper way for the state, but one maybe that they haven't paid enough for, for the state to protect biodiversity, and that's by designation. And I think we should just stand back for a minute and think of what designation means. Designation means that the state comes in and says, yes, it's your land, but, and gives a big list of activities that you cannot carry out without their permission. And obviously it has huge implications on other things like physical planning permissions and so on. And in that way, the state controls the activities on a vast amount of land that far exceeds the size of our national parks. The reality, for example, if I take Connemara west of the Corrib, 80% of the area west of the Corrib is designated, either SAC, SPA, or NHA. The bits that aren't designated are the green bits that people have been farming more intensively ever. None of it is wild. And in fact, all of it was farmed, every bit of it. It's also interesting to watch the pattern of where people lived. And one thing that always strikes me, because you'd find houses in odd enough locations, or very isolated locations, and that is that every bit, the pressure was so big to survive, that every bit of Greenland was habitated. There were people living on the butts of mountains and so on. And there's history involved in all of this. And I think when you compare that to the settlement pattern of other places and try to impose their way of doing it, you'll immediately create friction. Now, I hear about crime. I hear about environmental crime. And yes, it's happening. You'll have people right across society that will carry out environmental crime. But my experience is that the vast amount of people, particularly landholders, the vast majority of them, actually care for the land and care for the biodiversity. And I have often sat down with older farmers over the years and talked about the methods of farming that they naturally and indigenously had, which a lot of them were supplanted by government schemes in the past of land reclamation and mechanisation and so on. And it's incredible, one, the diversity they had on the small farms. And the second issue is their knowledge of protecting wildlife. I remember being out on an island one day that was deserted and there was a project going on bringing back the corncrake. But the person who owned the house, her father, had lived and she had grew up on the island. And she explained to me that when they were mowing the field, her father would never have gone near a corncrake nest. And that there was something like a hundred payers on this very small island off Clifton at that time. Thankfully, some of them have come back. One of the things, strangely enough, they needed was actually interaction with humans. If you let the place go wild, as has happened for the last 30 years, it actually caused the demise of the corncrake. And so, in some cases, it's a managed, a carefully managed countryside we need, not this dream some people have of letting it all go wild. I look at society in general, I look at ordinary policing, and I say, policing only works, and surely in this island we've learnt this. Policing only works with the consent and the support of those being policed. If you have to watch out for everybody in your community, there will never be enough people, whether they're rangers, conservation officers, or ordinary guard, there will never be enough. What makes most societies, including the society in which I work, which is very lightly pleased, work, is the vast majority of the people want the law kept, keep the law themselves, and do not want lawbreakers in their midst. Similarly, I have found a lot of the people who work for the MPWS absolutely superb, because they live in the communities, they work in the communities, and they understand the people, and they work with them, and everybody goes forward together. The reality is, however, if you try to come in with a heavy hand, I think you will not get half as much conservation as you will by working with people, particularly with landholders, who have a huge short knowledge of what's there. And yes, we have challenges, but on the other hand, if I leave my house, and I walk up what we call the Shanmohar, which goes for about four or five miles, there's a walking route we built. I have to say, we still have a fair bit of biodiversity, there's great nature. And who are the most people appreciated? The local people. My colleague, Deputy Devlin, I'll hand it over to you, because I think we have four minutes left between us. And that was the deal. Thank you.
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