Sir, – Your Editorial on ragwort (August 18) was like a beacon of hope for those who are trying to keep the dreaded ragwort at bay. Here, in Northern Ireland, the situation is even worse – if that were possible – than in the Republic, and every roadside verge is smothered with this noxious weed.
It is depressing for people like us who not only have an historic park and demesne to maintain but also a large herd of dairy cows. We have spent weeks pulling ragwort, whilst feeling as if we are following in the footsteps of King Canute! Butterfly Conservation Ireland in their letter (August 29) argue that there are no livestock to worry about on road verges and that the ragwort there should be left as a source of food for rare butterflies. All well and good, but road verges are the main conduit for the spread of ragwort to farmland, the seeds being carried there in the slipstream of passing traffic.
I am old enough to remember when police stations here in the 1960s used to carry posters on their external notice boards with warnings of draconian penalties for those who did not pull and remove ragwort from their lands. By and large, people did obey the law and the ragwort was pulled, yet there were far more butterflies to be seen than now.
Fifty years on, we are much more aware and appreciative of the biodiversity of nature. It is for this reason that we plant wild-flower meadows and are much more selective in the use of pesticides and herbicides, in order to encourage butterflies and other insect life. However, bearing in mind the importance that agriculture still has in the Irish economy, there is no place for ragwort in our countryside.
Bring on the day when the control of ragwort once again becomes the responsibility of An Garda Síochána and the Police Service of Northern Ireland. – Yours, etc,