One of the first serious studies of the impact of the expansion of Dublin on local communities has come straight out of the midland bogs.
Transition-year students from St Joseph's School, Rochfortbridge, Co Westmeath have carried out a study on the impact of the peat industry on the development of their town.
Rochfortbridge was built by Bord na Mona in the 1950s and initially comprised 100 homes which were constructed for bog workers and their families.
But in the last decade, three more estates have been built for various reasons, including the demand for cheap housing outside the capital.
The students found that the sense of community in the village and village life was better developed in the older estate than in the new ones.
One of the problems the study identified was a lack of information on the amenities and services available in the town to new residents.
This, the study said, was preventing "newcomers" from integrating into the community. The students published a directory of amenities and services to help overcome this deficiency.
The study, along with details on just about everything anyone would want to know about bogs, has just been published in Cutover and Cutaway Bogs, an education pack compiled by the Irish Peatland Conservation Council (IPCC).
Ms Catherine O'Connell of the IPCC said the publication was devised as a new resource development by the organisation's education department for schools in the midlands.
"It was developed in the Bog of Allen with the help of a team of 30 teachers, land managers and researchers, and aims to get young people motivated about the cutover and cutaway bogs issue," she said.
With 150 colour photographs, 12 chapters written by experts on the wildlife, habitats, archaeology, socio-economic and other uses of the bog, this is an invaluable publication aimed at transition students, but of interest also to the general public.
Published with the aid of Bord na Mona and the Heritage Council, the book has 10 worksheets to organise and guide field studies, interviews and research by students.
The book will also interest anyone who wants to identify over 100 plants and animal species, and view a checklist of birds, plants and animals of the boglands.
It is available from the IPCC for £13.50p, including p&p, at 119 Capel Street, Dublin 1.
The reference is ISBN 1 874189 17X