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Craughwell residents have vowed to stage a Rossport-type protest to protect their local woods from being turned into a quarry.
 Chairman of the Moyode Wood Preservation Group, Alo Kelly, Secretary Annabel Manning and PRO Frank Delaney pictured in Moyode Wood on Tuesday. The group is against the proposed sale by Coillte of 175 acres of woodland for quarrying. Photo: Declan Monaghan
Over 300 local residents attended a meeting held in Craughwell on Monday evening to protest against Moyode Wood being turned into a quarry.
Last October, Coillte, which owns the woods, sent a letter to local residents to notify them that it intended to sell a 78-hectare portion of the woods.
However, residents now believe the woods is being sold for quarrying purposes, and could be worth as much as €17 million to the state-owned company. Tests carried out in recent years have shown a substantial level of limestone suitable for quarrying close to the surface.
According to Frank Delaney, PRO of the Moyode Woods Preservation Group, the group now intends to seek a preservation order on the entire woodland in order to prevent this.
"We would like to see this woodland being promoted as an environmental and community amenity, with forest trails and picnic areas. It could be used for educational programmes like nature trails. The next step is to meet with the county council and try to get a preservation order on the lands," said Mr Delaney.
Coillte said it has a mandate to "optimise" its assets and that the company had a "rigorous process to ensure a fully transparent sales process" in disposing of assets. However, residents were sceptical of the company's insistence that it had not yet made a decision.
A statement from Coillte to this effect was read out by local TD Noel Treacy during the meeting. However, the committee believes this is "spin".
"Last October in the letter, and during visits to local residents, they said they were selling it. Now they are saying no decision has been made yet. But they're still not saying they won't sell it. They are maintaining that position, and they chose not to come to the meeting, although they were invited," said Mr Delaney.
Residents have now vowed to stage a 'Rossport'-type protest to prevent the woods being cleared for a quarry. Alo Kelly, Chairman of the Moyode Woodland Preservation Group, said the local community wants the wood retained and developed.
"The forest has huge potential and the local residents are interested in setting up a local woodland trust to help develop the forest as a wood and as a local amenity that would contain nature trails, educational walks, signed trails, picnic areas and so forth," he said.
Senator Fidelma Healy Eames, one of many local politicians opposed to the plan, said she finds it "hypocritical" that a body set to promote and develop forests should be promoting the sale of a wood for use as a quarry.
"Coillte's move is clearly for economic gain. I would argue that it strongly contravenes their mission: to preserve and expand forestry in Ireland. They must be made answer for this. What is their goal? If they wish to move into private enterprise, which leads to the destruction of the country's native woodlands, then Coillte should be disbanded," she said.
Moyode has a 14th century castle, the site of the first Galway races, and was the only place in Galway where the Easter rising of 1916 took place. The woods also has a number of turloughs serving the river systems from Athenry as far as Clarinbridge ten miles away.
The preservation group believe the woods also contains four protected native species: red squirrels, pine martens, badgers and possibly bats.
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