Presidential hopeful Heather Humphreys was “particularly unsympathetic” to views of environmental groups when bringing forward laws that, they argued, would affect wildlife, campaigners have said.
The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT), which had campaigned against the 2016 Heritage Bill, said her public comments at the time suggested she had “not much sympathy or awareness” to the parts of her brief focused on protecting nature.
The Fine Gael politician, then minister for heritage, was responsible for bringing forward legislation containing provisions extending the season during which the cutting of hedgerows was permitted.
It was opposed by the IWT and other environmental groups, which also argued it would lead to more burning of uplands, saying this would be damaging for ground-nesting birds.
RM Block
“At the time, we found Minister Humphreys particularly unsympathetic to that case in terms of getting access to her to discuss it,” IWT chief executive Kieran Flood said this week.
“We found there was a lack of openness to any sort of discussion on this issue with our groups who are trying to be a voice for nature. We just found there was no access for discussion there.”
Pádraic Fogarty, a prominent ecologist who worked with the IWT at the time, said she had “little interest” in the environmental aspects of her brief.
“It was very frustrating having a minister who just didn’t seem to be bothered by any of the things we were saying,” she said.
The Bill became law in 2018, although the hedge-cutting season was not extended permanently. It was only extended initially for two years following implementation and was not continued by subsequent ministers.
Mr Fogarty said the Irish environment had suffered as a consequence of the Bill and the State was now facing complaints and judgments in Europe.
“We lost a decade on this issue because of that lack of interest,” he said.
Asked about these issues by The Irish Times this week, Ms Humphreys defended the legislation by saying it sought to address a situation where roadside hedgerows “were out to the middle of the road”, as opposed to all hedgerows, and she said had acted “purely in the interests of safety”.
She said she was sure she had met activist groups on the matter and had conversations with them.
Ms Humphreys, who is trailing her rival for the presidency, Catherine Connolly, by 18 points in the latest Irish Times/Ipsos B&A opinion poll, has also been criticised over her approach to animal welfare by an activist group.
The Irish Council Against Blood Sports urged voters to “reject Heather Humphreys’ bid for the Áras”, saying she approved of “barbaric bloodsports” such as hare-coursing.
It criticised Ms Humphreys’ defence of hare-coursing as being run in a responsible manner.
Ms Humphreys said she had never been at a hare-coursing event, but it was a “rural pursuit” and there were a lot of controls in place.
“No minister before me has banned it and no minister since me has banned it,” she said, saying she would support it with proper controls in place.
