National Tree Week: Why we all need the comfort of a tree

I LOVE that our national sport is played with hunks of ash tree. My outdoor activity is gardening rather than sport, but I am a huge hurling fan — I love its aggression, skill and poetry. I love that definition of hurling as “a cross between hockey and murder”.
The late actor Joe Lynch (of Glenroe) was a hurling fan. He said that “I love Cork so much that if I caught one of their hurlers in bed with my missus, I’d tiptoe downstairs and make him a cup of tea”. I wouldn’t go that far, but whenever I get a chance I plant ash.