Judge fines Galway farmer over €9,300 for destruction of 'rare' limestone pavement

Gordon Deegan

A farmer has been ordered to pay over €9,300 in penalties for the destruction of 10 acres of “an extremely rare and unique" limestone pavement habitat in a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) on the periphery of the Burren in Co Clare.

At Ennis District Court on Tuesday, Judge Adrian Harris said that he had to record a conviction against Galway farmer Martin Feeney as 10 acres of limestone habitat “has been destroyed as a result of the actions of the accused”.

Mr Feeney of Mincloon, Rahoon, Galway, pleaded guilty to two offences connected to the adverse impact on the limestone pavement and Judge Harris imposed fines of €3,000 and costs of €6,307.

Regional Manager with the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), Helen Carty told the court that 4.3 hectares (10.6 acres) of limestone pavement had been impacted by the reclamation works for agriculture carried out by Mr Feeney on dates between March and August 2022.

Ms Carty said that limestone pavement "is an extremely rare and unique habitat" and is listed as a priority habitat in the Habitats Directive as it is at risk of disappearing.

Ms Carty stated that “any loss of priority habitat is significant”.

She said that the lands were located in the Moyree River system SAC, which is one of five SACs in the Burren with the Moyree River SAC on the periphery of the Burren.

Mr Feeney engaged in certain works for the reclamation of lands for agriculture, and it involved the removal of limestone pavement blocks and then the infilling of material from a nearby drumlin on the lands, Ms Carty said.

She said that the lands were re-seeded for approved agricultural grassland, adding that the works involved the infilling of material over limestone pavement habitat, and the material was levelled out over the limestone pavement.

Ms Carty told Thomas Wallace O’Donnell BL (instructed by State Solicitor for Clare, Aisling Casey) for the Department of the Environment, Heritage, and Local Government in the prosecution that a wall was built of very large limestone boulders on the lands.

She said that the huge boulders most likely came from the SAC in the vicinity of the works.

In court, Ms Carty said that she went on a helicopter to view the changes to the land and those images were handed into court along with satellite 'before and after' images.

Ms Carty said that she went to the farmyard of Mr Feeney in January 2024 where assistance was required from two gardaí to carry out a site visit, as Mr Feeney was extremely uncooperative.

Counsel for Mr Feeney, Evan O’Donnell BL told the court that the State evidence is accepted and that Mr Feeney “is taking responsibility for actions”.

Mr O’Donnell asked that a conviction not be imposed, and said that Mr Feeney has been farming the lands since the late 1980s.

He said that Mr Feeney was subject to a prosecution by the NPWS in 2008 which was withdrawn “and he was under the impression that the works he was carrying out were lawful”.

Mr O’Donnell stated that Mr Feeney believed the land reclamation works were not impacting on limestone pavement. He said that there are significant tracts of land in Mr Feeney’s landholding that are limestone pavement and untouched.

Mr O’Donnell said that very recently, Mr Feeney was struck by a cow and spent time in hospital including a period in intensive care.

Mr Feening is retiring from farming, and his daughter is taking over the farming activities, Mr O’Donnell added, and he said that Mr Feeney is eager to have the matter resolved and said that his client was willing to make a contribution to a charity in lieu of a conviction.

On behalf of the State, Mr Wallace O’Donnell said that his client is anxious that a conviction is recorded in the case.

In the case, Mr Feeney pleaded guilty to carrying out certain works on the lands between March 26th, 2022, and August 10th, 2022, within a SAC without the consent of the Minister.

Mr Feeney also pleaded guilty to bringing on plant machinery within a SAC adversely impacting the integrity of the SAC.