We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
FOUR HUNDRED ACRES of bogland were handed over to the people of Abbeyleix today by Bord na Móna.
Bord na Móna welcomed the signing of the lease agreement on the bogland, which will be used for the enjoyment of the people of Abbeyleix.
CEO of Bord na Móna, Gabriel D’Arcy, said:
This is a great day for Bord na Móna and the people of Abbeyleix. Bord na Móna is part of the social fabric of many midlands communities, and has always taken its role in this regard very seriously.
The first phase of work on rehabilitation and restoration of the bog began in March 2009 and involved a comprehensive drain-blocking programme.
The handing over came following an intensive year of discussions, planning and field visits to the bog in Abbeyleix. A comprehensive management plan was developed to restore the drained high bog, but also to allow the site to be used as an amenity and ‘outdoor education centre’ for the local community.
The plan was developed in a joint effort between Bord na Móna, Laois County Council (Laois Heritage Officer), the Irish Peatland Conservation Council, local residents of Abbeyleix and members of the scientific and local staff of National Parks and Wildlife Service.
The next phases will be looked after by Abbeyleix Community Group, who will develop the site for local amenities. All plans for the bog will be sympathetic with the conservation and biodiversity action plan of Bord na Móna.
D’Arcy commented:
Alongside the community amenity value of the lands, Bord na Móna is confident that the area will be managed, developed and maintained with the utmost sensitivity. For many years we have been working to conserve and rehabilitate the last remaining examples of raised bog in Ireland. After today, the people of Abbeyleix, will help ensure that diverse habitats and wildlife are protected and treasured by the community.
The 50 year lease signed today means that the bogland will now be managed by Abbeyleix Community Group with the assistance of a technical advisory group.
Abbeyleix Bog is located just to the southern limits of Abbeyleix Heritage town.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
What a lovely story, this group has done fantastic work in making the area a valuable community resource. They have a facebook account with lovely pictures and news http://www.facebook.com/pages/abbeyleixbog/113923161953207
I wish them all the very best of luck for the future when managing this wonderful resource and hope I may even visit some day.
Ahem!
Sean, you daft git they aren’t cutting the bloody turf! See this is what I would love to see happening on the SAC sites too, so there :-P
I didn’t say anything, but now that you brought it up, why not section some off for …… :-) ya walked into it!
lol do you really want to start me off on one of my technical rants with references and all :-)
Definitely not!!! :-)…. Anything retuned by bnm i is great whatever way you look at it
What a fantastic gift! Thank you BnM – a great facility for the people of the midlands. Hope BnM get the contract to run the new national water authority this week. A first class business.
Great news alright and a great success, the people of Abbeyleix have another fight on their hands on the 29th of April to save our local hospital. Below is information from the Facebook page. Please come along and support his event.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-Abbeyleix-Hospital/162237467205258
The HSE cited the following reasons for their original (now quashed) decision to close the hospital in November 2011:
(a) Financial reasons – HOWEVER, it has since come to our attention that the cost of care per bed in Abbeyleix Community Nursing Unit is cheaper than 63 other Community Nursing Units in the country out of the 124 Hospitals in the report (according to HSE figures!).
(b) Expected retirements in February – BUT NO STAFF took early retirement in Abbeyleix.
(c) HIQA standards – Abbeyleix has received good reports from HIQA and we, the community, are willing to work with the HSE to ensure future HIQA standards are met going forward to 2015.
There are EMPTY (COST NEUTRAL) BEDS currently available in Abbeyleix Hospital, while people that no longer need medical care are in beds in Portlaoise Hospital, at a huge cost to the TAXPAYER, as they wait for a Nursing home beds to become available. The available beds in Abbeyleix should be filled. We shall NOT stand by and watch Abbeyleix Hospital being closed down by stealth.
Please show your support for our elderly by attending the Protest Rally on Sunday the 29th April @ 2pm and bring everyone you know along with you.
Every Group/Society/Committee and Individual that wishes will be able to feed into the HSE Consultation Process and we need this opportunity to show you how this can be achieved.
Keiran K
Fair play to you for making people aware of this. I am amazed that people are giving you thumbs down …. I wish the government would give us all a break ! It is beyond a joke. Good luck with your capaign
Probably getting the thumbs down for been off topic. Just doing my bit to raise awareness of the campaign to save the hospital. The local committee have quashed all reasons for the HSE trying close this hospital.
There is just no logic behind it.
Just like the Roscommon Hosp , when they closed the A+E….
It does not make any sense . I wish you luck . Do not mind the red thumbs , I am always getting red thumbs .But I know I am not wrong Stick to your guns and good luck with your campaign . :) :)
Fair play to all the stakeholders in this fantastic project for their patience and perseverace. The outcome is an excellent example of corporate responsibility and community endeavour combining to yield an exciting environmental, community and social dividend. It is also wonderful that this beautiful expanse of bogland, once part of the De Vesci Estate, will now be returned to its former glory as a raised bog habitiat with wonderful posibilities for use as an amenity for locals and visitors alike. With eco-tourism, walking and outdoor recreational pursuits continuing to attract ever bigger numbers this fantastic landscape of Killamuck Bog at Abbeyleix has the possibility of becoming an importand nature reserve and yet another tourist attraction in Laois and Abbeyleix Heritage Town. All concerned deserve great credit for their commitment and vision. As Deputy Charles Flanagan said at today’s handover, the eminent botanist David Bellamy has likened the Irihs Bogs to the Californian Redwoods and other great natural wonders of the world.
Nice gesture by Bord na Mona. People of Abbeyleix must be grateful the Gilmores didn’t own the land.
Well done to all involved .
Just a note of caution fingal coco built its offices in swords on land that was donated to the people as public amenity despite opposition from those who wished to retain the park and in balbriggan where once we had lovely open parkland with flowers and benches in great location beside harbour again donated to the people of the town by local family the council turned it into a car park mainly used for train commuters each time the council used the term council property is technically public amenity who knows give it time 400 acres good size for new council dump maybe.
Well done to all involved – a good project that will benifet Abbeyleix, Durrow and surrounding areas.
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say