County Clare is overly dependent on tourism and needs to diversify to create new employment.
During the summer months, tourists flock to Clare, bringing a much needed economic boost to the region.
While the summer brings the visitors Clare can be a bleak and desolate place during the winter months.
Comhar Conradh Na Boirne, the local co-op, has decided that if the local community is to survive, it must diversify away from tourism. The aim of the co-op is to create employment and retain the population in the area. Tourism offers only seasonal employment and the co-op wants to look at turf production as a potential commercial venture.
Turf is a good natural resource and it's also a need in the area.
Moving into turf production is not straight forward. The challenge is to produce turf as a business and the co-op has already received a sympathetic response to plans from various government agencies. Many the bogs in Clare are in private ownership and the co-op is depending on the use of bogs owned by the Land Commission. Support has been recieved through the County Development Team from the Department of Finance. Accessing bogs is expensive and infrastructure is needed.
The co-op hopes to extract 750 trailers of turf from one bog in Kilfenora this season. This is enough turf to fuel 250 households through the winter.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 24 March 1981. The reporter is Michael Walsh.
