The environmental damage caused by a recent Co Wicklow hill fire and the regular occurrence of such blazes outside burning season were disappointing, Minister of State for Heritage Malcolm Noonan said as he visited the scene on Tuesday.
The fire which on Sunday night engulfed the land on which Mr Noonan stood was started deliberately, the chief fire officer for Co Wicklow, Aidan Dempsey, has confirmed. A wildlife crimes unit is being set up in the National Parks and Wildlife Service and drone footage and forensic evidence has been gathered by NPWS staff, “but it would very difficult to get a conviction,” the Minister said.
The Scar mountain fire in Wicklow drew 18 firefighters from three fire stations to tackle the blaze, while the same day in Co Laois, a large fire on Conlawn Hill near Ballyfin burned through the night. Fire crews monitored the blaze to ensure nearby buildings were protected and crews from three Laois stations returned to the hill at first light on Monday to extinguish the remaining fire lines,