Bord Na Mona

(Dr. Willie Nolan)

As you look down from the village of Glengoole the sight that strikes you is the vast area of bog. The dull brown colouring broken only by the white of bog cotton, or the purple heather. This tranquil scene is far removed from the glaciers which gouged and scoured hollows as they retreated. These hollows then became filled with dead vegetation which eventually became so compressed as to form peat.

 Turf cutting has existed for years in this area. The Ormond deeds mention ‘Turbury Rights’, many of these were local and unorganised. Interest in official circles began from 1890 onwards and a Government commission was set up in 1920. In 1934 it set up the Turf Development Board with Todd Andrews as managing director. The board first came into the area in 1941.

 The war also saw the involvement of the army and the County Council. the Council was cutting in Sean Fitzgerald's bog in Clonoura. This employed a lot of locals as slanes men, footers and carters. Work could have started at seven o'clock in the morning and many would have to walk long distances. Work in the bogs would have begun in early Spring but not too early as to avoid the Spring frosts which would damage the turf. The first job to be done would have been to strip the banks and level the hollows. The turf was cut with a slane of which there was two types, the wing slane and the breast slane. When the turf was beginning to form a crust it would be footed which was mostly done by women and children. Initially slanes men were hired on a day to day basis. When the turf was dry it would have been clamped and reeked before being sold. The reason for the involvement of the Council was to provide firing for the hospitals Cashel, Clonmel and the County Home. The army was working down in Inchirourke and Lanespark. They were cutting it to send to barracks and to headquarters in the Phoenix Park.

 In 1946 the old Turf Development was re-organised as Bord na Mona and one section known as the County development section took over the work of the County Council. In the early 1940's Senator William Quirke of Fethard became a director of the Bord and with his efforts a turf industry was established in Derryhogan near Littleton. Formal development began in 1946 the first employee was Johnny Ryan and the second Michael Cooney. The Bord acquired the bogs by purchasing them from their owners.

 The work in the early days was tough and very physical and it was a case of : "the workers were lined up and asked if they were prepared to do a certain job and if they weren't they could go".

 The Bord found it very difficult to get local labour as working conditions were poor compared to other local industries such as the mines and the sugar factory. In order to attract outside employees timber hostels were erected in Derryhogan in '48. The hostels had been purchased from the army.

 They housed about 200 people many of whom came from counties such as Kerry and Cork and many eventually married and settled down. The hostels were free initially but later on a fee of one pound was charged. They were closed in '52.

 Working conditions were very tough as I have already said. The workers were paid on apiece rate system which meant that the workers were measured for the amount of work they did and they were paid accordingly. There was no such thing as wet time or even weather proof clothing. The day for most workers began at 8 o'clock and finished at 5.45 p.m. The turf cutting season began in March when the baggers began cutting. They were large machines invented by a German called Bagger. A lot of the footing was done by women and children. Later on around April a lot of seasonal workers were taken on and these were kept on until the end of the summer. In the early years the board employed about 400 men and this went as high as 500 at peak times. The work varied from summer to Winter with mainly maintenance being carried out at Winter time (4). Originally the two works of Littleton and Templetuohy were separate but they amalgamated later on. Formal production began in 1950 and the first load was sold to Messer’s Plunder and Pollack who operated a tannery in Portlaw.

 The next stage of development was when the work was mechanised which came about in '58. This resulted in layoffs, many emigrated while others were re-employed else where on the bog. The coming of mechanisation was welcomed by some people as it resulted in easier and more efficient work practices. Before a sod collector came into use, it used to take twenty-one men to do the same amount of work. Railway lines both permanent and temporary could now be laid down by machine and not by hand. A number of different machines came about as a result of mechanisations such as sod collectors, loading machines, row turners. The development of these machines came about as a result of research and development unit in Dublin and also countries who are involved in peat production who came to the board initially as an example of how to develop bogs, countries such as Russia, Denmark.

 The third area of production that came into being was peat production. This was necessitated by an increase in oil prices, and by the fact that the area of bog in Littleton was cut out.  In order to begin peat production a number of things were necessary, firstly more bog had to be acquired, this had to be drained, a net- work of railway line both permanent and temporary laid down. The peat is being used for a variety of products. The system employed was known as the Pecho system which originated in Finland. This meant that the peat was collected into huge ridges and these ridges were finally collected into one huge ridge. This was a very costly exercise involving a lot of transport. The height of this phase of production was the building of the briquette factory in Lanespark which was built in 1981. Lanespark was chosen as it was a requirement for a grant from the E.E.C. and also it was centrally located within the bogs transport system. The building of a briquette factory was deemed necessary as sod production was too dependant on the weather and a bad Summer and Autumn meant severe economic trouble. Littleton was dependant on sales to the public so when the turf production was phased out some other plan was needed. The workforce increased enormously after having dropped to about 150 at peak time in 1974. One would have thought that the briquette factory would have helped a lot in the area. Although it was a major employer and had a history of generations of families being employed this has changed in recent years with numerous layoffs.

 One can offer a number of reasons for the problems that are facing the board at the moment. In order to finance the building of the factory large sums of money had to be borrowed at high interest rates. Secondly, as the board was aiming at the fuel market with effective competition from coal and gas and in recent years from , private contractors cutting turf was a problem. The weather in the past few years has also been a problem. Another reason put forward is the high cost of labour which the board incurs. This is a problem that has been there from the start. All levels of employees from management which was top heavy to the worker on the bog was grossly over staffed. These problems are now responsible for bringing about a rationalisation programme.

 The board has now had to layoff many of it's workers and this has involved the payment of redundancies. Initially the workers were not asked to re-invest their redundancies but as Bord na Mona is a company of the nineties according to Mr . Frank Connolly and it has decided to adopt anew approach in Littleton. This approach has come about as a result of management and unions sitting down and discussing things which in earlier years did not happen too often. It was only when there was a crisis did both sides come together and sit down and try and work things out. (5). The attitude in the early years seem to have been to "bull the workers". At the moment the system being used is known as the Hacku system which is different to the other system in that there is only one loading point compared to numerous loading points with the Pecko system. A scheme is being tried in Lanespark at the moment on a trial basis, where workers who received redundancy are given a change to re-invest. I n one instance the workers can set up their own company and there will be an initial cost of leasing equipment from the board but any profits and losses will go to the workers. In the other system the board will lease out the equipment and pay the workers themselves. How effective these systems will be is a matter of opinion. The payment will again be on apiece rate system to enable people to work more' for more wages and more production.