Dung hits the fan as jarveys get park ban
Jaunting cars are tied to a bollard after being denied entry to Killarney National Park yesterday
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Wednesday July 15 2009
TOURISM groups have pleaded for common sense after a 'dung-believable' row saw Kerry's famous jarveys barred from sections of Killarney National Park yesterday.
The move by the National Park and Wildlife Service (NPWS) came after protracted talks over 18 months with jarveys -- the operators of Kerry's horse-drawn carriages or jaunting cars -- failed to hammer out a deal on horse dung.
The NPWS warned it was no longer acceptable for large quantities of horse dung to be allowed to gather in the national park. More than one million people now visit the picturesque park and house each year and officials were concerned the build-up of horse manure was making visitors uneasy.
Emptied
The NPWS asked that the jaunting car operators fit special horse 'nappies' or manure-catching devices to their animals if they were entering the park. These 'nappies' could then be emptied at special manure stations in the park -- and the collected dung could be sold to garden centres.
NPWS director Philip Buckley said that it had offered to foot the bill for the first of the 'nappies' or dung catching devices. However, the jarveys refused to fit the devices, arguing that they were uncomfortable for horses and potentially dangerous. Jarvey spokesman Paudie O'Donovan said they had offered the NPWS a number of alternatives.
The Irish Independent understands jarveys had proposed special horse-drawn dung collection carts, enhancing the parks 'green' credentials.
The operators yesterday said they were shocked that the NPWS should decide to implement a ban at the height of an already difficult tourism season. "Jaunting cars have been here for almost 100 years -- why is there such a big problem now?" one operator asked.
More than 80 families earn their living from the jaunting car trade in Killarney, some of whom trace their operations back to the 1900s and the dawn of the Irish tourism industry.
Locals are split over the matter with one politician, Sheila Casey, pointing out that dung-catching systems had worked successfully in other European cities like Rome and Prague.
"I cannot understand why they (the jarveys) won't even try the device," she said.
Under a special control regime, a total of 66 jaunting cars are licensed by the NPWS to operate in Killarney National Park, which has 15km of internal roadways and paths.
Access to certain areas of the park were closed to all jaunting cars at 6am yesterday -- and the NPWS said the ban would remain in place until dung-catching devices were fitted.
Horse-carriage operators warned that if the ban on entering Killarney National Park was still in force by today they would extend their protest from Muckross house to the Muckross entrance gate.
The protests, they said, will continue until the NPWS agrees to suspend the ban, pending fresh talks.
- Ralph Riegel
