Garda checkpoints and air support to target Christmas tree thieves

Christy Kavanagh at his Christmas tree plantation farm in Newtownmountkennedy, Co. Wicklow. 'We've already sold thousands of trees, which is unusual at this stage,' he said.

A seasonal Garda operation designed to prevent raids on Christmas tree farms will get underway from today, as growers report record demand for festive firs.

Operation Hurdle, a successful initiative involving nightly air patrols, high-visibility checkpoints and armed support units, will run up until December 20 in Co Wicklow, home to Ireland's largest concentration of Christmas tree plantations.

Confirmation that the special month-long operation has been given the green light has been welcomed by owners of isolated farms, many of whom are anticipating unprecedented demand for Christmas trees.

Garda superintendent Declan McCarthy has told of how garda checkpoints along with air support and armed support units will be used to help foil Christmas tree thieves.

“People seem determined to celebrate Christmas this year, we hope we can play our part in that,” he told RTÉ radio’s News at One on Monday.

Operation Hurdle, which has been operating seasonally since 2012, works in conjunction with local growers and the Irish Christmas Tree Association, he explained.

GPS data of the location of Christmas tree farms is shared with the garda’s air support units and armed units so they can monitor activity while checkpoints will also act as a deterrent, he said.

In the past trees were illegally harvested at night time and then transported during the day. Initially “they were very well organised” but the success of Operation Hurdle has meant that the scale of thefts has been lower than in the past.

Supt McCarthy said that he hoped the operation would be effective and would reduce the number of thefts to negligible figures. He urged the public to use only known or reliable Christmas tree sellers.

Christy Kavanagh, a multi-award winning grower based in Newtownmountkennedy, said: "This year's crop is extremely good, in fact better than ever. The trees are fresher and fuller than previously, and that's because they've had the ideal amount of light and rain this year. I can't recall a year as good as this.

"We've already sold thousands of trees, which is unusual at this stage. But with the year that people have had, there definitely seems to be more demand for real trees than in past years. People seem more determined to celebrate Christmas this year, and already we've shifted more trees than we normally would have at this point.

"Irish trees are in big demand abroad, too. I've already had two truckloads of my trees sent over to London."

Christy, a former chairman of the Christmas Tree Growers' Association, said he expects to supply around 10,000 trees to both the domestic and export market, adding that the launch of Operation Hurdle should ensure a bumper season for festive fir growers.

The seasonal Garda ring of steel has been running every year since 2012 in the remote uplands of the Garden County, before which growers had been the victims of a spate of raids from Dublin-based gangs.

Supt McCarthy said the initiative had been set up "with a view to reducing and hopefully eliminating the theft of Christmas trees in a short finite period between the start of November and the week before Christmas in the Wicklow Garda District".

In a statement, he said the co-operation between gardaí and local farmers had led to a turnaround from pre-Operation Hurdle days, when around 2,000 festive fir would be plundered annually from isolated farms.

He also confirmed that gardaí in Wicklow will be  deploying high-visibility checkpoints and patrols, which will be backed up by the Garda Air Support Unity and on the ground by local detective and regional armed support units.

"At checkpoints gardaí will be checking documentation with vehicles, and if trees are purchased legitimately, the driver of the truck or van should have a receipt which is recently dated. The Garda Air Support Unit will monitor these areas when they are operational at night, and they can also provide support if required for operations, for example searches using infrared and 'night sun' equipment and provide air cover/patrols when checkpoints are taking place in remote areas."

He also acknowledged the increased safety measures taken by local growers in recent years, including investment in specialist CCTV equipment and hiring security personnel during the busy harvest.