We can replace trees but not lives

Safety first – that is what we are advised. This applies generally but not always when it comes to some aspects of road safety.

Take trees for instance: how many people have been killed, injured or have barely escaped injury or death when trees fell across roads? It is an ongoing issue but little has been done to address it.

When I think that young hurlers are now banned from playing hurling at half-time in Semple Stadium in the name of health and safety, I wonder what standards have we? To the best of my knowledge, there have been no fatalities caused by hurling at half-time, yet there are and will continue to be fatalities on roads due to trees.