Ash to ashes as disease hits

I WAS doing a guided walk through a forest the other day and several people asked me about the ash die-back disease and the threat it poses to Irish ash trees.

The news is not good. The disease is caused by a new fungus, Chalara fraxinea, which was only named in 2006. It has been spreading rapidly westwards across Europe and causing havoc. It was identified in Ireland on Oct 12 last year in an ash plantation in Co Leitrim. On May 17 this year, the Department of Agriculture published a list and a map, confirming it at many locations in all four provinces.

All the confirmed locations are ash plantations, tree nurseries, garden centres or private gardens. But these are the places where scientists have been looking. The spores of the fungus spread on the wind and it is inevitable that wild hedgerow and woodland trees are infected.