Senior figures in the Ulster Farmers’ Union travelled to the Bloody Bridge, outside Newcastle, last week to meet with members of a local family who have been impacted by the most recent blazes.
On Wednesday, about 12 hours after firefighters extinguished the major gorse fire which broke out on Sunday, UFU president William Irvine and his deputy, Glenn Cuddy, met with cousins Seamus and John Maginn.
Both landowners had previously met with the union in the wake of the April 2021 fires, which decimated many hundreds and hundreds of acres on Slieve Donard and neighbouring mountains, and which, the police later said, had broken out in the Bloody Bridge area.
The UFU is now calling for a balanced approach to reduce wildfire risk and protect upland habitats.
It says there must be urgent action and improved support for farmers to help manage hill ground as concerns grow about increasing wildfire risks, habitat loss, and overly prescriptive environmental regulations that ignore the generational knowledge of local land managers.
Read the full story in the Mourne Observer.
