Almost £350,000 has been set aside to help the Mourne Mountains recover following the devastating Mournes wildfire in April 2021, Environment Minister Edwin Poots has confirmed.

The minister made the announcement during a visit to the Mourne Mountains to see the damage caused by the recent wildfires, view some of the regeneration, and to discuss emergency plans for restoration and recovery.

He said: “I am pleased to allocate £332,000 through the Environment Challenge Fund to the Mourne Wildfire Recovery Project, led by the National Trust.

“I visited the Mournes in April 2021, the day after the fire took hold and could see the devastation it had caused to the extensive wildlife and biodiversity in the area. The pictures we all saw in the news in the following days, were very upsetting and thankfully our firefighters got the blaze under control.

“Wildfires hurt the natural environment, threaten lives and livelihoods and can obliterate the local wildlife. Of course, they are rarely a natural occurrence and are almost always started deliberately or recklessly.

"It is everyone’s responsibility to protect our natural environment - seeing it quite literally go up in smoke is utterly devastating.”