"Green" policies are destroying this country

Not being able to advertise sales or sell in retail outlets effectively kills the commercial turf industry, no harm.

As for smoky coal, everywhere in red was where is could be sold and burned and it was very much available for purchase. It was threats from the coal sellers to sue that forced the govt to legislate for turf and wet wood sales

Many options are proposed during the formation of legislation, some make it in, some don't.

Only this week we saw amendments to planning legislation get dropped on the day it was being voted on.

This is a normal part in the process 🤷‍♂️

By 1600 forest was less than 20% of cover in Ireland. Neolithic farmers created the bogs by cutting down the forests.

If we dig up and burn the bogs and replant with forest or drain the bogs and plant forest we are technically restoring it to pre-neolithic times. Isn`t that crazy.

From the web link:

"That was to change 3,000 years later when Neolithic farmers arrived in Ireland. They would have a huge impact on Ireland’s forests as they began to clear land for agriculture. This happened at a time when the climate became much wetter.

Where trees were burned or cut down to make way for fields or rough grazing, tree seedlings didn’t get a chance to grow as they were eaten by livestock. As the trees didn’t protect the soil anymore, the increased rainfall leached nutrients and clay particles from the soil.

This resulted in a gradual build-up of dead vegetation over many, many years growing into thick peaty layers and formed extensive blanket bog areas across Ireland.

That’s why we now regularly find dead tree stumps in bog.

Over the next 3,500 years, so much of the forest cover was removed that by the end of the Bronze Age, the poorly wooded appearance of Ireland became clear. Especially in the upland areas, blanket bog has by now replaced woodland.

Just as is happening right now in the Amazon, why did we clear so much forest? Because people wanted to create space for farming and because wood was essential to people’s everyday lives. Wood was used for fuel, in the making of tools, for constructing houses and roads.

Over the next 2,000 years or so, and especially during the Early Christian Period, population growth and expansion of farming led to a dramatically altered landscape. By 1600, less than 20% of Ireland was covered by forests.

The decline of the few remaining Irish forests continued over the following 300 years. With a rapidly expanding population, forests were no longer seen as an integral part of the rural landscape but more as an engine to drive agricultural growth.

Once cleared and drained, they provided valuable, fertile grazing land for commercial cattle, sheep and dairy enterprises. This process was accelerated by the 17th century Plantations of Ireland where recently arrived settlers cleared large tracts of land for farming.

This fast growth in the population caused towns and villages across Ireland to grow very fast. That required a lot of timber. For instance, large amounts of oak were exported to rebuild London following the Great Fire in 1666.

Because of the large number of cattle in Ireland, the trade in cattle hides was also very important. Tannins can be extracted from oak bark to tan leather. As a result, many oak trees were killed by stripping them of their bark to tan hides.

The Irish coopering industry manufactured vast amount of barrels to export Irish produce such as meat, butter, fish and tallow and exported huge numbers of barrels to France and Spain for their wine and spirit trade. Rivers were critical in transporting the timber down to the ports.

Ship building as well as the production of charcoal to fuel ironwork enterprises required a lot of wood.

The late 19th century saw many mobile sawmills travelling around Ireland cutting down the last few remaining forests. This meant that by the end of the 19th century, Ireland’s forest cover had been reduced from 80% 6,000 years ago to about 1%."