Barking up the right tree for good cause

CLARE man Paul Dignam is a humble champion.

In the grounds of Our Lady’s former psychiatric hospital in Ennis on Saturday, the Flagmount man attributed winning the first-ever Irish Christmas Tree Throwing Championship to “pure chance”.

Just before 3pm on Saturday it looked as if Polish man Marek Wogal would win the competition, which is based upon age-old lumberjack traditions and is commonplace across Germany and Austria.

With the competition winding up, Mr Wogal was leading with a throw of 6.9 metres before Mr Dignam hit 7m with his second of three throws.

In throwing the 1.5m tree the furthest, Mr Dignam beat off the claims of 130 other contestants who entered the day-long event.

The winner confessed afterwards: “I didn’t do any training for this.”

However, Mr Dignam said he will be back next year to defend his trophy.

He quipped: “I need to get in training and give up the cigarettes and the drink.”

Funds raised from the championship are going towards a new dog shelter in Ennis and it was fitting that dog-lover Mr Dignam scooped the prize.

Mr Dignam was forced to break off his post-win interview to give chase to his Irish wolfhound, Cara, who had broken away. On retrieving the dog, he said: “My life wouldn’t be worth living if Cara had got away.”

Organiser, Councillor Brian Meaney, said: “It is a curious event. We weren’t expecting great crowds, but there was substantial interest.”

Mr Meaney put Mr Dignam’s win down to technique.

“Paul won because of his superior technique, rather than brute force.”

His throw, however, is some way off the current world record held by Klaus Pubnaz, who hurled a tree 12m at an event in Germany in December 2010.

Mr Meaney said the competition was “a novel way to turn Christmas tree recycling into a sport, while at the same time raising funds for a needy cause”. He added: “It is hoped that this championship will become a yearly event and will be a precursor to Ennis holding the European championship at some point in the future.”