Patrick Concannon (1918 – 26 February 2012) was an
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
local politician. He was born near
Castlerea
Castlerea (; ) is the third largest town in County Roscommon, Ireland. It is located in the west of the county and had a population of 1,992 at the 2016 Census. Roughly translated from Irish, Castlerea is generally thought to mean 'brindled ca ...
,
County Roscommon in 1918. Towards the end of his life he served as president of the Irish Turf Cutters and Contractors Association.
Political career
He served as a county councillor for
County Roscommon for a total of 46 years starting in 1945. When first elected he was a member of the agrarian party
Clann na Talmhan
Clann na Talmhan (, "Family/Children of the land"; formally known as the ''National Agricultural Party'') was an Irish agrarian political party active between 1939 and 1965.
Formation and growth
Clann na Talmhan was founded on 29 June 1939 in ...
,
which was wound up in the 1960s. He was an unsuccessful Clann na Talmhan candidate at the
1957 general election for the
Roscommon
Roscommon (; ) is the county town and the largest town in County Roscommon in Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60, N61 and N63 roads.
The name Roscommon is derived from Coman mac Faelchon who buil ...
constituency.
[ He was later elected as a member of ]Fine Gael
Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil à ...
and as an independent.
Turf Cutters and Contractors Association
Concannon was a founder member of the Turf Cutters Association in 1998. This followed the emergence of a threat to turf-cutting when the European Union's Habitats Directive
The Habitats Directive (more formally known as Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the Conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora) is a directive adopted by the European Community in 1992 as a response to the Berne Convention. The E ...
was transposed
In linear algebra, the transpose of a matrix is an operator which flips a matrix over its diagonal;
that is, it switches the row and column indices of the matrix by producing another matrix, often denoted by (among other notations).
The tr ...
into Irish law in 1997, and gave protection to raised bog
Raised bogs, also called ombrotrophic bogs, are acidic, wet habitats that are poor in mineral salts and are home to flora and fauna that can cope with such extreme conditions. Raised bogs, unlike fens, are exclusively fed by precipitation (ombrot ...
s.
The Irish government declared a ten-year derogation
Derogation, in civil law and common law, is the partial suppression of a law. In contrast, annulment is the total abolition of a law by explicit repeal, and obrogation is the partial or total modification or repeal of a law by the imposition of ...
, which delayed the full protection of Irish raised bogs. (The derogation was granted to help domestic turf-cutters (as opposed to industrial-scale turf-cutting).Special Areas of Conservation
A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and ap ...
with effect from 2009. (Initial reports referred to 32 SACS being affected,[(2008)]
Turf-cutters fear EU ban will be extended
'' Irish Examiner'' later reports refer to a figure of thirty-one).
In a mirror of the derogation granted for continued domestic cutting on SAC raised bogs, a similar de
facto 10 year derogation operated in respect of the 75 raised bogs designated for protection in 2004
under the Wildlife Acts.
The ban would eventually apply to a total of 139 raised bogs which have been designated for protection in 53 Raised Bog Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) under the Habitats Directive and 75 Natural Heritage Area
Natural Heritage Area () is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in Ireland. The Wildlife (Amendment) Act 2000 makes legal provision for the designation and protection of a national network of Natural Heritage Areas (NHAs).
The d ...
s (NHAs) under the Wildlife (Amendment) Act, 2000.
In 2008, the Turf Cutters Association amalgamated with the Contractors Association to form the Turf Cutters and Contractors Association of which Concannon was president.
Concannon led opposition to the ban on non-commercial turf cutting of raised bogs.
See also
*Irish Peatland Conservation Council The Irish Peatland Conservation Council (IPCC; ) is a national charitable organisation established in 1982 to conserve and protect a representative sample of Irish bogs, and to campaign on bog-related issues.
History
Having been for many years in D ...
References
External links
*http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20100528/tuk-turf-gatherers-vow-to-fight-ban-e1cd776.html
{{DEFAULTSORT:Concannon, Paddy
1918 births
2012 deaths
Local councillors in County Roscommon
Clann na Talmhan politicians
Politicians from County Roscommon
Independent politicians in Ireland