Ray Ryan looks at some of the highlights of ESB Tree Week, which is encouraging communities to develop ‘NeighbourWood’ activities.

THERE were almost as many scrums at the National Ploughing Championships in Ratheniska yesterday as there were during a game at the Rugby World Cup.

A holly patrol has been put in place in the Killarney National Park amid fears that the annual hacking down of whole red-berried holly trees for the Christmas market is getting under way.

Primary schools all over the country have gone nutty for National Tree Day. 

The Coeliac Society of Ireland, in association with SuperValu, will host Ireland’s first ever 100% Gluten Free Food Market at the Silver Springs Moran Hotel in Cork tomorrow (October 4), part of the association’s annual convention there.

Radio personality and nature enthusiast Éanna Ni Lamhna insists on living in the present and refuses to be defined by her age, says Margaret Jennings.

THE short daylight hours of the Christmas holidays and of winter in general offer the opportunity for those who enjoy the outdoor world to read up on the finer details of natural history and be replete with knowledge and curiosity when the world reopens to welcome a new spring.

The Tree Council of Ireland has named today as Tree Day. And the theme for this year’s event is ‘If Trees Could Talk’. I was given this anonymous poem by a friend some years ago. It was, apparently, found posted on a tree in a Spanish park.

NATIONAL Tree Week is an annual festival celebrating all positive aspects of trees in our lives and environment.

Two trees in Dublin are being upgraded to protected status today.

NATIONAL Tree Week, now under way, aims to encourage people to make a renewed effort to go out and plant more trees.

IT has been said that the life cycle of trees is comparable to that of human beings.

Donal Hickey on the role of trees in Irish history.

The Tree Council of Ireland is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its National Tree Week.

A ROW has flared over plans by a top golf club to cut down old lime trees which date to the mid-1800s.

Richard Collins says this durable tree deserves better recognition

HARD to believe, but the day may soon come when the clash of the ash, and the unmistakeable thud of wood whacking a sliotair, will no longer be heard in the playing fields of Ireland.

NEW planting is vital to the forestry sector so that it can continue to provide an income stream for farmers and a steady supply of material for the timber and energy industries.

COMMUNITIES and local authorities have been urged by Forestry Minister Mary Wallace to participate in some of the 300 or more events which will take place around the country during National Tree Week (March 2-8).

TWO out of every five Irish families visit a forest each year and it’s a fair bet that May is among the most popular months for such visitation. Many people regard May as the most beautiful month of the year, a time when nature is renewed and in full bloom.

ENVIRONMENT Minister Dick Roche is urging the public to respect the natural world around us and its interaction with our everyday lives.

Ireland: National Tree Week is celebrating its 21st birthday this week. Harvesting an Ocean of Air, this year’s theme, focuses on the contribution trees can make in reducing (C02) emissions and combating global warming.

Hundreds of thousands of school children are taking part in National Tree Day, which is aimed at creating awareness about the importance of trees.

HE warned of worrying global trends and harmful gases, but there wasn’t a word about UN weapons inspectors or Saddam Hussein.