Friends of the Irish Environment wins peat extraction challenge

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Friends of the Irish Environment won its peat extraction challenge in the High Court, reported on 20 September 2019. Mr Justice Garrett Simons set aside regulations governing industrial peat extraction from Irish bogs, after finding aspects inconsistent with EU environmental directives. The ruling means extraction from areas larger than 30 hectares requires planning permission. The regulations had instead provided for licensing by the Environmental Protection Agency and a transitional period for unauthorised extraction. The court will mention the case again in October.