Cavan County Council has called on Imelda Hurley, Chief Executive Officer of Coillte to meet with councillors to discuss the management, monitoring and risks within Coillte Forests in the county.
Those calls came on foot of a motion from Cllr Sarah O'Reilly after she raised concerns over the behaviour of some recreational users of the local forest in Bailieboro.
Speaking to Northern Sound, Cllr O'Reilly stated that this is an issue which pops up at this time every year, especially when the weather gets hot. Cllr O'Reilly went on to highlight her concerns following an incident which took place during the June bank holiday weekend at the popular Castle Lake Forest in Bailieboro.
According to Cllr O'Reilly, during that particular bank holiday Sunday, a total of three fires were lit under a canopy of trees, with about 15 tents pitched for camping nearby. Cllr O'Reilly condemned such behaviour, stressing the serious implications this could have on the health and safety of people across the area.
"The concern would be that the Castle Lake in Bailieboro backs onto three very large housing estates in Bailieboro town," explained the local representative.
"There was a very real danger and there was much concern locally about the fires. We know how quickly fires can spread in very dry conditions, what was even more worrying during that particular weekend was that there was a wind with the hot and dry weather. This created very high risks and conditions for a possible serious event."
