It seems Minister Eamon Ryan is rowing back on proposed new laws to ban the sale and distribution of turf.
He now says it won’t apply to rural communities of fewer than 500 people but will instead focus on commercial and retail activities.
There’d been clashes between the coalition parties over the issue but Minister Ryan says it won’t be a case of inspectors going into cottages and ‘sifting through the grate’.
Councillor Michael McClafferty who last week claimed he was prepared to go to jail over the ban on turf says this latest stance is a waste of time.
He says Minister Ryan is completely out of touch with rural Ireland:
