Increasing prospects of countryside becoming denuded of ash trees

The daunting prospect of Ireland becoming a country without ash trees looms closer, with devastating effects for our native woodlands and the countryside, similar but far more catastrophic than the demise of the elm tree in the 1970s and 1980s.

Nowadays, planting ash for commercial purposes is no longer an option for forestry growers, due to dieback disease, which is why the Forestry Service no longer pays planting grants or annual premiums for ash plantations.

For most landowners, this eliminates an attractive broad- leaf option that grows as fast as conifers, with an income stream beginning by 16 years. According to the Forestry Service, commercial ash was planted on 13,500 hectares since 1990, with Coillte growing a further 2,700 hectares.