There are two issues I am drawn to comment on today. The first one is the flaunting of Luke Ming Flanagan of the EU habitats directive. Despite his position as MEP, this cowboy politician is cutting turf from a bog and encouraging others to follow suit. Thankfully there was plenty of erudite comments on his Facebook page. Please presurise him on social media to leave his parochial politics in the past.

https://www.facebook.com/Lukemingflanagan

The second issue is that the department of Agriculture is looking for a contractor to cull 12,000 badgers. Despite the lessons learned in England our government and against any scientific evidence of a link between TB stead and badgers the government looks set to spend taxpayers money on a spurious scheme

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jun/27/badger-cull-claims-flawed-vets-say

As always keep the pressure up on social media and support conservation of Irish wildlife and landscapes.

The Wild West of mayo infiltrates your mind. With the right conditions the landscape is a mixture of endless blanket bog and bare mountains. On this trip the sun was splitting the stones and big sky and big landscape were all around.

The rawness of the landscape is unforgiving. It invades the mind and pulls focus from the close flatness of bogs to the wide expanse of sea and sky. The lines of all blend into each other and the rough terrain owns your journey.

The river systems of the Moy and various wild water cut through the landscape like veins and arteries. Fish leap and swifts sweep the surface looking for rising insects.

The turf cutting is in evidence all over NW Mayo. Evidence from the picture show the damage done to an environment. Around protected areas such as around the Ceirde fields an array of wild flowers bloom in the summer sun.

Outside the wonderful ice house the view of the Moy estuary is a dream stay. Floor to ceiling windows allow the river to be watched at all times in the evening. The television is off and I sit watching the ebb and flow of the tide and the wildlife revealed.

The Irish Times recently ran a competition to find the best place to go wild in Ireland with Erris in NW Mayo coming out on top of the exciting list.

Inspired by this,I ventured to Ballina in Mayo seeking to experience some of the true wilderness that Ireland has to offer. I was not to be disappointed with the rugged landscape and wildlife exceeding my expectations. I will be following up this with details of various aspects of the trip, central to this site including landscape, flora and fauna. The next posts will be anecdotal slices of wild Ireland and hopefully they will cheer and inspire.The first post is about the magical mayo landscape. Watch this space.