Letters to the Editor: A sustainable future for the Irish forestry industry 

One reader responds to an 'Irish Examiner' article about forestry, while others consider subjects including the management of An Garda Síochána, carbon taxes, and the rise of the Brics group of nations

One reader writes that fast-growing conifers such as sitka spruce will always have an important place in Irish forestry, but that their management must change.

Mark McAuley, director of Forest Industries Ireland, is correct in saying that we need to “balance our economic, social and environmental objectives” while making forestry more attractive to landowners [ Irish Examiner, August 23].

Farmers have been fooled in the past by unrewarding schemes with hidden pitfalls and it’s not surprising if some have learned to see the government’s forestry ambitions in a cynical light.