Conservation or drainage. What is the future for Clara Bog in Offaly?
Botanists from all over the world have come to Offaly to see the only spring on a raised bog in Europe. The bog lake is also home to some extremely rare plants.
This tiny lake in the middle of a bog in Clara County Offaly is of world importance.
Bogs are living organisms built up from thousands of years of accumulated plant growth and decay. Bord na Mona are draining the bog at Clara so that the turf can be cut and used for fuel. Many scientists believe that the bog land is too valuable an ecosystem to be used for fuel.
Dr Gerry Doyle, University College Dublin, gives reasons why this particular bog needs to be protected. He compares the importance of the Clara bog, which he describes as a biological monument, to that of Newgrange. This bog has taken ten thousand years to develop and is still growing. Gerry Doyle says if the top section of the bog is removed it will be destroyed.
If the Office of Public Works was to come along and destroy Newgrange, there would be a world outcry.
Turf from the bogs around Clara is used to fuel the power station at Ferbane. Some argue that the demand to preserve the bogs has put power station employment at risk. Gerry Doyle refutes claims that the recent loss of jobs at Ferbane is related to the conservation efforts. He argues that it is more economical to import fossil fuels to power the Ferbane plant than to use the bog at Clara as a source of energy.
Clara Bog is on a preservation list with the Department of Forestry. It seems that the listing is being ignored by Bord na Mona and the bog is being drained. An Taisce has raised the issue with the European Parliament demanding the preservation of these raised bogs.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 2 December 1983. The reporter is Conall Ó Móráin.
