Carol Nolan vows to keep burning turf, slams proposed ban
Carol Nolan spoke on 26 April 2022, criticising the Green Party's rural policies and a proposed ban on turf burning. She opposed the ban, saying it would create hardship for households dependent on turf and insisted she had tabled an amendment to secure permanent rights for turf sale and use.
Opposition to Green Party proposals
Carol Nolan said the Green Party had imposed "nonsensical and detached policies" on rural Ireland and accused Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil headquarters of realising they had crossed a line with voters. She urged rural TDs to stand up for their constituents and said people should not be dictated to about how they heat their homes.
Household impact and local dependence on turf
She warned of real hardship in rural communities, noting that in her county 38% of people are dependent on fossil fuels, mainly turf, and that this includes families as well as elderly people. Nolan described the proposed ban as a joke, criticising the idea that limiting turf use only in villages under a population threshold would be acceptable.
Amendment seeking permanent sale and distribution rights
Nolan told colleagues she had brought forward an amendment with rural independent colleagues calling for an explicit government commitment to ensure the sale, marketing and distribution of turf - whether voluntary or commercial - would be permitted on a permanent basis. She said rural communities would not give up their traditions for what she called a vanity project.
Proposal to seek cultural protection and lack of reply
The amendment also called on the government to investigate categorising turf use as a protected cultural practice under instruments such as the Council of Europe Framework on Convention of the Value of Cultural Heritage of Our Society, referred to in the speech as the Faroe Convention. Nolan said she had raised the matter with the minister by parliamentary question and, to her knowledge, had received no response a year later.
Firm warning to government and political parties
Nolan concluded with a direct challenge to government and other parties, asserting accountability to rural people and vowing that turf burning would continue in rural Ireland. She repeated that the measure would not be accepted now or in future.
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It appears that the panic light finally went off in the Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil headquarters when they realised that they had crossed a line with the Irish people who were absolutely fed up of the nonsensical and detached policies that this Green Party are imposing on us in rural Ireland morning, noon and night. The Green Party are acting as if they were the conscience of this country and it's now high time that the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael rural TDs stood up for their constituents. You have no right to dictate to people on how they should heat their homes. In my county, 38% of people are dependent on fossil fuels, mainly turf. They're not just elderly people, they're families with no other source of heating and how dare you try to create such hardship. When I heard about the ban, I actually thought it was a late April fool's joke. But it is a joke and limiting it to villages where there's 500 of a population is still a joke, not acceptable. We will continue to burn turf in rural Ireland, Minister, whether you like it or not. Whether you like it or not. And also, Minister, I also want to make you aware and I want to make the Sinn Fein Party aware that I did bring forward an amendment with my rural independent colleagues calling for the government to provide an explicit commitment that they would ensure that the sale, marketing and distribution of turf, either at a voluntary or commercial level, will be permitted on a permanent basis. Because we're not giving up our traditions for your vanity project that's going nowhere. We want this permanent. We don't want it kicked down the road by any government or any party. They must make a firm and permanent commitment to the people of rural Ireland. That's what we're seeking here. The amendment also calls on government to investigate the possibility of categorising turf use as a protected cultural practice under such instruments as the Council of Europe Framework on Convention of the Value of Cultural Heritage of Our Society, also known as the Faroe Convention. This was raised with Minister Catherine Martin through a parliamentary question. And to the best of my knowledge, a year later, I have received no response. So you think you can do what you like and that you're not accountable to us as politicians in here and fellow TDs or the people of rural Ireland. Well, you won't get away with this one. Not happening. Not now. Not ever. Thank you, Deputy.
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