'It was much better than going to school' - Laois bog features in RTÉ documentary

Abbeyleix Bog features in a documentary about Ireland's boglands to air on RTÉ over Easter. The bog was saved from Bord na Móna peat harvesters more than 20 years ago and has not become a model project for peatland conservation.

Fiona Dunne, chairperson of the Abbeyleix Bog, and her dad, Proinsias Ó Duinn, a former turf cutter, appear in the Irish language programme to be screened on Easter Monday.

The programme makers say Fiona used to cut turf with her father when she was younger, and developed her love of nature during her youth on the bog.

Fiona is now the Chairperson of the Abbeyleix Bog Project, and her father walks there every day. They believe bogs should be enjoyed and conserved and not cut and used for fuel.

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Proinsias spoke in the documentary about turf cutting during his youth.

Fiona Dunne pictured on the Abbeyleix Bog boardwalk.

"It was much better than going to school. It was very important, especially for people in the countryside. In the towns, you could get coal and other things, but for ordinary rural people, turf was very important in the winter," he said.

Ecologist Piaras Ó Giobúin spoke about the work done by bogs for the environment.

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"If you have a wet bog, it’s absorbing carbon. But if you have a dried-out bog, one that’s been drained, it’s releasing carbon. From a climate change perspective, the wet bog is the better bog," he said.

For Peat's Sake screens on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player on Easter Monday, April 6 at 6.30pm.