The Irish Wildlife Trust is complaining to the European Commission over 97 wildfires that took place this year, including a number in the Shannonside region.
It claim the government has failed in its duty to protect bird and wildlife after fires in a number of designated sites and has lodged an official complaint in Europe alleging the government has failed in its duty to protect certain areas of the country.
According to IWT figures, they alleged 97 illegal wild fires were recorded between the end of March and the end of May, including three incidents in this region at Lough Arrow on the Sligo/Leitrim border as well as on Kilronan Mountain and Arigna Mountain in May.
Padraig Fogarty, campaigns officer with the IWT, told the Joe Finnegan show that wildfires cause huge damage to vegetation and animals’ habitats.
