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Jarveys protesting at the gates of Muckross
House, in Killarney, have again refused a request from the
National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) to try out controversial
dung-catchers on their traps.
The NPWS
is insisting that the devices are safe to use, but the jarveys
claim they could be dangerous and that insurance cover is
not available to them for trials.
The jarveys have been protesting
for the past seven weeks following a decision by the NPWS
to ban them from Killarney National Park because of their
ongoing refusal to use the dung-catchers.
On November 20th, NPWS wrote again to each jarvey
asking if they would use the opportunity during the quiet
tourism period to try out the dung-catchers. 'The NPWS
does not understand the jarveys’ current position when they
have made no attempt to even use the dung-catchers' -
said a statement at the weekend.
'The NPWS believe if the jarveys could see
their way to just trying the device out, that this would go
a long way to allaying any issues they may have. If the jarveys
wish, the NPWS are again willing to try to set up some sort
of independent facilitation process to progress the issue
and to address issues that could arise during trialling'
- the statement said.
Muckross jarveys’ spokesman, Diarmuid Cronin
said the jarveys had several reasons for not trying out the
devices and were determined to continue their protest indefinitely.
He said they were not able to get insurance cover for trials
because health and safety certificates were not available
for the devices.
"We have asked the NPWS to cover us for the
trials and they have said 'no'. If they gave us that cover,
it would be a step forward in helping to resolve this dispute,"
he added.
Mr Cronin also said they would not get the devices
unless they first signed an agreement that they were prepared
to use them. They were not prepared to agree to this as a
pre-condition for their getting their licences from the NPWS.
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