All over the State there is growing pressure on open space, with increased urbanisation and a tendency in agriculture to extend holdings by dividing commonage. One such special area of open ground is the Heath, which lies about two miles south east of Portlaoise and runs up to the imposing ruins on the Rock of Dunamaise.
The area is well known to hundreds of thousands of Irish people who travelled the Dublin/Cork road before the town was bypassed by the existing road. For many years now there has been growing concern at the neglected and eroded appearance of much of the Heath, which lies in the parish of Portlaoise.
The once open grazing land has been overrun by furze and there has been damage to the Heath vegetation. Local farming families who have been using the commonage for centuries deny that there has been overgrazing of the area by their stock.
There has also been erosion of the turf, resulting in damage to both the archaeological and ecological quality of the area. Dumping of cars and rubbish has added to the air of neglect.
For many years, the north western corner of the Heath was used as an unofficial halting site for Travellers, which has also caused some damage to the surrounding vegetation.
However, three years ago, Dr John Feehan and his team at the department of environmental resource management in University College Dublin initiated a study to make recommendations about how to manage the Heath. That study is now complete and has been published by UCD's faculty of agriculture.
The document stresses the need for a management plan to ensure the survival of the Heath and the UCD team has drawn up a management strategy for the area.
That plan could be implemented with the co-operation of Duchas, which owns a greater part of the area, the local farmers, who use the area, and the country council, which services the infrastructure.
The booklet will be launched at 7 p.m. tonight in the Dunamaise Theatre in Portlaoise where Dr Feehan, who is from Birr, Co Offaly, will give an illustrated talk.