Bord na Mona to 1990

Turf Development Board

In 1934 the Turf Development Board Limited was established as a state-owned company.  Engineering staff were taken over from the civil services and organising staff from the IAOS.

The Turf Development Board was organised along the lines of the ESB with the mandate to develop and improve the turf industry in the Irish Free State by the introduction of improved methods of gaining and selling turf, to operate and drain bogs for that purpose and to establish and operate factories.  CS Andrews, the Chief Executive Director, saw the matter as a crusade rather than a commercial project.

Pre-War

In 1934 the Turf Development Board proposed compulsory measures to ensure a market for g of turf of sufficient quality. It sought money for bog drainage, road construction, storage sheds and equipment. Legislation was drafted providing for the object of the company as to relief of unemployment and substitution of home-produced turf for imported coal.

The Turf (Use and Development) Act 1936 was enacted to provide for the promotion and more extensive production and consumption of turf for domestic and other purposes.  The board acquired powers to compulsory acquire lands in appointed areas.

The improvement in agricultural and other conditions at the end of the 1930s meant that the relief schemes contracted and the quantity of turf available decreased.

In 1938, the Department of Industry and Commerce decided to build a turf-powered power station at Portarlington supplied by Clonsasy bog.  Despite the reservations of the ESB as to the cost of turf fuel, scepticism about the available supplies and absence of track record, with government intervention, the ESB was pressed into accepting peat as a fuel source.

The Turf Development Board had acquired the Towran peat moss plant in 1934.  This was eventually closed for economic reasons, and an alternative peat moss plant was established at Kilberry.

The Emergency / WWII

The Emergency Powers Act was passed at the commencement of World War II.  The Department of Supplies was established. There were no significant deposits of coal.

It reversed the decision to close Towran and got its Lullymore factory back into operation.  It took steps to obtain and manufacture equipment.

The quality and quantity of coal available was greatly reduced.  At the time, an eighth of coal was devoted to gas manufacturing, an eighth to railway, % to electricity, 16% to industry and the rest to other sources.

Maximising Production

The Turf Development Board undertook publicity campaigns seeking to ensure turf districts produced as much turf as possible. In 1940 and 1941 coal imports reduced drastically.

Fuel Importers (Eire) Limited imported whatever stocks of coal it could obtain.  There were difficulties in obtaining licences in the UK.

The government initiated four schemes involving the assimilation of private turf production, county council production schemes, the Kildare Scheme, and the production of machine turf, briquettes and hand turf on the Turf Development Board bogs.

In turf areas, turf could be freely traded.  A licence was required to move turf into non-turf areas.

Electricity and gas were rationed for private consumers. The government undertook campaigns to stimulate private turf production.

The local councils and town commissioners were given powers to acquire work and let turf banks. The OPW was in charge of transport.  The councils took over all responsibility for turf production within its county.

The Land Commission assisted in the acquisition of bogs using compulsory powers.  Special employment schemes recruited workers. Production of over 1 million tons was achieved in 1941.

Expanding Peat

A crash program was initiated to bring bogs near Dublin, particularly in Kildare, into production for 1942.  10,000 hectares of bog were acquired and drained, and road works were constructed.  Roads had to be built, and drains constructed, up to 4,000 men were involved at the peak of production.  Camps were set up in the Kildare region, where up to 600 men were accommodated.

The Turf Development Board had taken over the Lullymore briquette factory in 1939.  This was upgraded during the war.  Briquettes were allocated to industry with designated priorities and to the railways.  A permit was required to acquire briquettes. The Turf Development Board produced 100,000 tons of high-grade machine turf from its three bogs.

The army produced turf for its own use. Turf was substituted for coal and railway.  It was significantly more inefficient.  Engines would have to stop up to six times on a 180-mile journey for up to half an hour at a time.  Journeys could take days and trains were stranded through the country.

Turf briquettes were slightly better but were too bulky.  Passenger services were reduced by 70%, and branch lines were closed.  The costs were five times that of coal.

The Turf Development Board continued developing Clonsast in preparation for the Portarlington power station.  A number of further bogs were identified as being potentially suitable for electricity generation from machine turf.

Post-War

After World War II, the Departments of Local Government and Public Health wished to get workers in turf production and resume work on road programs.

The government transferred the CPS schemes from the Councils to the Board after World War II. Over 630 bogs were worked by 30 local authorities using their own engineering and staff.  The bogs were vested by the county councils in the Board and licensed users.

The new interparty government decided to close the CPS schemes.  Certain bogs were preserved within the scheme, and the scheme was reorganised.  The numbers employed were reduced from an expected 20,000 to some 5,000. The Kildare scheme was closed in 1948.  Some of those employed were redeployed into Bord na Móna.

The Turf Development Act 1946 changed the Turf Development Board from a limited company into Bord na Mona, a statutory corporation. It was given additional powers.  It had the mandate to develop bogs and compulsorily purchase land.

The government issued a White Paper in 1946 proposing a development program.  The White Paper proposed

• the development of 24 bogs to produce a million tons of machine turf per annum.
• erection of a peat moss  factory at Kilberry
• improvement in the Lullymore briquette factory
• establishment of an experimental station to be funded by grants
• building the Portarlington and Ferbane power stations.

Worked resumed on Portarlington station after World War II.  The plant opened in 1950 and, in that year, accounted for almost 10% of the national energy capacity.

1950-70

The 1950s saw continuing tension between ESB and Bord na Móna on the operation of turf-fired plants.  There were supply and cost problems.

Plants were later opened up at Allenwood and Lansborough. Additional units were added at each of Portarlington and Allenwood.  All of these plants closed in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

In 1956 peat reached 23% of total output. A considerable quantity of land was acquired through compulsory acquisition power.

In 1956 the Board sought permission to build two new briquette factories and sought capital. The Turf Development Act 1957 allowed private sector borrowings by the Board guaranteed by the Minister.  Stock could be issued for up to £2 million.  Borrowing was limited to £14 million.

The first and second programs involved a huge development of bogs, roads, bridges, railways and buildings.  Narrow gauge railway systems were a major part of the infrastructure.  At its t maximum it was nearly 1,300 kilometres with 850 km permanent track. At one time, there were 340 locomotives and 5,300 wagons.

The percentage of peat in electricity production reached almost 40% in 1964. This required a significant increase in peat production.  Bord na Móna was unable to supply the required quantity of peat to meet the target.

A 40-megawatt power plant was constructed in Shannonbridge in 1965.  A further 40-megawatt plant was completed in 1960.  It was served by Garryduff bog in Galway, which required the construction of a railway bridge across the Shannon.

Through the 1950s and ’60s, legislation increased Bord na Mona’s borrowing power. The Turf Development Act of 1957 allowed for private-sector borrowing. The Turf Development Act 1968 gave the Minister of Finance the power to waive interest on borrowings by Bord na Móna for a four-year period.

The Turf Development Act 1961 allowed Bord na Móna to sell houses or let them to non-employees.  Some houses were sold to county councils at cost.

1970s & Energy Crisis

By the early 1970s over 60% of ESB power production was based on oil.  Oil prices doubled following a period of economic and political instability in the Middle East after 1973. There were widespread shortages of oil. This was the background to the third t development program, which foresaw a wider reliance on peat due to long-term increases in the price of oil and other solid fuels.

Following the 160% increase in oil prices, peat cost regained competitiveness, and it was proposed to construct an 80-megawatt power station in Ballyforan, a 40-megawatt at Lanesborough and an additional 40 megawatt at Shannonbridge.  It was proposed to extend the lives of the Ferbane and Rhodes plants.  New bogs were to be developed in Tipperary and a new briquette factory was to be constructed.   There were to be increases in peat moss and machine turf production.  In 1977 the proposal for the Ballyforan site was omitted.

The Turf Development Act 1975 permitted Bord na Móna to borrow in foreign currency as well as substantially increasing the borrowing permitted in light of ongoing inflation.

In 1978 Bord na Móna decided to construct a briquette factory at Ballyforan. A number of private peat moss factories emerged in the 1970s.

A number of cases were taken against Bord na Móna in the 1970s and ’80s in relation to its compulsory acquisition power.  The powers were used extensively.  The board’s compulsory powers were found to be defective and were revised. O’Brien v An Bord Pleanala upheld the constitutionality of the board’s power of acquisition.

1980s

By the early 1980s, peat accounted for 15% of electricity generation.  Oil prices had peaked and begun to decline by the late 1970s.  Oil prices fell in the 1980s, decreasing the relative competitiveness of peat.  Peat had significantly higher overheads and operational costs.

A third plant at Shannonbridge became operational in 1982 and at Lanesborough in 1983.  They were closed respectively in 2004 and 2003.  A further briquette factory was constructed in view of the energy shortfall in 1982.

The severe financial condition of the Board led to a voluntary redundancy package.  In the period 1986 to 1992, the workforce fell by over 50%.  New machinery and technology were introduced.  Schemes introduced incentivise] employees and operators on the basis of output per head.

On the other hand, arguments in favour of peat included security of supply, balance of payments as well as sustenance of over 5,000 jobs in the midland region.  But for peat stations, electricity rationing would have taken place in 1956, 1967, 1973, and 1979 might have taken place.

Ultimately, the third development plan proved financially unsuccessful.  A temporary market for electricity was undermined by the fall in oil prices.

The financial position of the company became critical in the mid-80s.  Very large scale layoffs were narrowly avoided, although a significant number of jobs were lost. The state guaranteed a significant loan.

Under the Turf Development Act 1981, the board was made responsible for administering the private bog development scheme. The development scheme provided grants for individuals and companies in relation to bog development and machinery. The scheme became popular with groups of householders ranging in size from 10 to 100 owning small Land Commission plots allotted in the 1930s and forth, which were laying derelict

They were reactivated under the scheme by levelling the cutover, preparing roads and constructing outfalls, making them suitable for small turf-cutting machines.  Hand harvesting was generally undertaken.

The scheme also appealed to bog owners with plots between 20 and 100 acres.