The government should establish a task force to help peat and coal workers train for new jobs as Ireland stops using fossil fuels, Fianna Fáil has said. Bord na Móna announced last week that it was letting 78 seasonal workers go with immediate effect and would temporarily lay-off another 72 permanent workers this week. The workers harvest peat from the Mount Dillon bog in Co Roscommon and supply it to the nearby ESB power plant in Lough Ree in Co Longford. The ESB, however, has had to suspend the operation of the peat-powered plant after breaching Environmental Protection Agency rules on the discharge of water into the River Shannon.
Times 15th July 2019 read more »