Fianna Fáil Councillor Norma Moriarty has called for an extension to the burning season to ease pressure on farmers and landowners, following many gorse fires in Co. Kerry so far this month.

During the spell of dry weather, Kerry Fire and Rescue Service stated that it experienced a "busy period" for callouts to gorse fires.

Landowners can carry out controlled fires on uncultivated land from September 1 to the last day in February each year.

This is only allowed if it is done in a controlled manner and the landowner follows the correct safety procedures on uncultivated land, which includes land that is not normally farmed or managed.

A total of 10 wildfires in gorse, bog or hillside areas were attended by the emergency services in Co. Kerry between Friday, February 7 and Tuesday, February 11.

The larger wildfires where property was endangered included two houses in Kilcoman, Caherciveen and four houses in Castlequinn, Caherciveen on Monday night into Tuesday morning where fire crews battled for hours to bring the fires under control.

The fire service was called to the fire in Kilcoman at 5:49p.m and the fire was dealt with by 9:53p.m. It was notified about the fire in Castlequinn at 9:49p.m and had dealt with the incident by 5:15a.m.

Cllr. Moriarty said that farmers are feeling "pressure" with the burning season coming to an end and that it was "unfair" to "completely blame" them.

"If an extension for the burning season was in place, what subsequently could happen is, you could have neighbours helping neighbours to make sure everybody's place was done and done safely," Cllr. Moriarty said.

"The weather in March might not always be great, but you have a better chance of getting a group of drier days together," she added.

"Nobody wants to see our already fragile ecosystems diminished but this is already operating in Northern Ireland. We're the one island with effectively the same wildlife north, south, east and west.

"It's not having any detrimental effect to bird life and to nesting. If it's operating there, surely we should look at extending it here," the councillor said.

"Farmers should respect their neighbours and they do, and we're all conscious that the costs on farms at the minute are difficult, so the timing puts pressure on them.

"It all comes down to having the right fire belts in place and we must put ourselves in the shoes of those people. A bit of cooperation from the government and from agencies, allowing that time will allow people to work together to do things safely," Cllr. Moriarty added.