Farmers concerned about spread of ragwort in Westmeath

Farmers and landowners in the greater Mullingar area have called on Westmeath County Council to step up their efforts to combat the spread of the noxious weed ragwort, which is reported to have cropped up at various locations in the area over the past two months.Recently, the Westmeath Examiner was contacted by a concerned resident west of Mullingar, who reported that 'a large crop of ragwort' had appeared near Butler"s Bridge, on the road to Lough Ennell.'There"s a magnificent crop of it, and it would make a lovely colour photograph, but the problem is that ragwort is a poisonous weed and this is an area where there are more horses than humans,' said the resident, saying that the outbreak was centred on an area close to a 'prominent local stud farm'.'If the seeds spread, the whole place will become infested, and the effect on feeding animals would be fatal,' he added.This week, Paddy Donnelly, Chairman of the Westmeath Irish Farmers" Association, said that there were further outbreaks of ragwort in a number of locations in the Mullingar area.Mr. Donnelly said that the weed was present between Bunbrosna and Clonhugh on the main Mullingar-Longford road; near the roundabout on Mullingar"s Castlepollard road. He also said that there was a 'forest' of ragwort in an area near Irishtown, Mullingar.He added that Council workers had recently cut along a verge on the Longford Road, but had 'left the ragwort standing'.'If a farmer has ragwort growing, not only is he running the risk that he could poison his own livestock, but he"s also liable for prosecution,' said Mr. Donnelly.'I seem to remember a directive coming from Minister Mary Wallace in recent months warning county councils that they would be liable for prosecution if outbreaks of noxious weeds are not dealt with.'Michael Connolly, Senior Roads Engineer with Westmeath County Council, said that his section had sprayed a number of verges on national roads in Westmeath to combat the growth of ragwort, but that the prevention of ragwort growth was the responsibilty of the individual office in the county"s four areas.'We have already sprayed along the verges and medians on national roads in early June,' Mr. Connolly said.'If anyone has any reports of outbreaks of any form of noxious weeds on Council land, we would urge them to contact their area office, where it will be processed and investigated should the resources be available.'Under the 1936 Noxious Weeds Act, private and public landowners are obliged to keep control of poisonous weeds such as ragwort, thistle, dock, common barbery, male wild hop plant and wild oat.