Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Ballycroy National Park was established in 1998. The visitor centre at Ballycroy was opened in 2009. At establishment, it had 11,000 ha of some of the most rare and precious bogland in the world and that was to be at its heart. There was never any difficulty with the name Ballycroy National Park. Ballycroy is a centre and a community. It was the people of the area who campaigned for the visitor centre in the first instance. It was they who put their land up and who are the guarantors of the land we are supposed to be protecting.

The national park was added to in 2017 with another 4,000 ha from a Coillte industrial process. That is now being used as the reason the name of the park needs to be changed to Wild Nephin National Park. We are also being told by the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, that Wild Nephin Ballycroy National Park is too long. I point out to the Minister of State that there is a national park in Scotland named Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. Killarney National Park comprises 10,500 ha that extend way beyond Killarney but nobody is suggesting removing Killarney from its name.

This decision speaks to more than just a name. Deputy Conway-Walsh referred to the lack of consultation. Nobody will take responsibility for this. The fact that a decision such as this can be made without any engagement with the community or public representatives speaks to a system that thinks it is not answerable to anybody. It speaks to a system that thinks it does not have to answer for decisions. That is happening across so many areas. As Deputy Conway-Walsh stated, the name of the national park is incredibly important to the people of Ballycroy and its diaspora, but this is also about the principle of how this was and is being done. There is a hope that we will go away and accept it. I know that Deputy Conway-Walsh and I will not do that. It was previously agreed that it would be known as the Wild Nephin Ballycroy National Park. Why was that changed and who changed it?

When the extra land was added, it was identified for rewilding. Experts proved at that time that the direct participation of local communities would be essential to rewilding. With this decision, the NPWS is destroying participation by communities. It needs to be stopped now.

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