A 61-year-old grandmother on trial for causing criminal damage by sawing down Coillte trees in West Cork and stealing the wood said she cut Sitka spruce trees because they were destroying biodiversity and acidifying the water.

The body of a horse has been found tied up with a rope to a gate at a beauty spot in Co. Clare this morning, in what was described as a “sickening” act of animal cruelty.

Last year was one of the worst on record for forest fires with 90 reported on Coillte property alone.

State forestry body Coillte sprays more than a tonne of the weedkiller glyphosate each year on its forests and recreational amenity areas, according to new figures.

Author Rosita Sweetman today failed in her bid to have a High Court decision to dismiss her case against Coillte over the alleged spraying of a pesticide near her home overturned.

Directors and key client managers at Dublin-based public relations firm Q4 PR shared a pay bonanza of €2.8m last year, accounts show.

State-owned forestry company Coillte has received “very significant interest” in its windfarm properties, which it effectively put up for sale last month, and is confident of achieving its stated price target of €125m for the assets.

IFA says up to 100 landowners are unhappy with their contracts with Ireland’s national forestry agency

Coillte has decided to halt the felling of trees in Ticknock Forest in Dublin after a number of groups raised concerns.

Gardaí have arrested a man in Co Wicklow in connection with a number of timber thefts.

Coillte is to switch from a sale to a lease model with regard to non-core land assets in a bid to generate recurring income.

The way has been cleared for the development of a wind farm after the Court of Appeal rejected a challenge to planning permission centring on concerns for a “critically endangered” freshwater pearl mussel.

Environmentalists are ramping up pressure on Coillte to end the use of a hazardous pesticide in State forests.

Coillte, the State-owned forestry body, is targeting an expansion into the solar energy market and is likely to begin seeking a development partner imminently.

A €100m euro construction and tourism project is being lined up for Co Longford.

The trustees of Coillte’s pension plan have staked a claim to €20m worth of state-owned forestry following a secret settlement to their High Court dispute.