Mary McCormack decided to plant her land outside Killenaule in Tipperary having been widowed with a young family.
“I have 160 acres (65ha) planted, with two-thirds Sitka spruce and one third hardwoods, mainly ash.
“I have fantastic Sitka, I’m very proud of it. Then I go to all the ash I planted, and it’s dead. It did well for maybe 12 years, but growth slowed and stopped. Our worst fears were realised when ash dieback was confirmed in 2016,” she tells the Irish Farmers Journal.
It was a devastating blow.
“We’re going to take a right hit on it, it was the only hardwood that had any potential value when it matured. I have sycamore and other hardwoods. They’re good for biodiversity, but they’ll never amount to anything commercially.
Erica O'Keeffe, the Tipperary South chair of IFA, forestry owner Mary McCormack, IFA forestry chair Vincent Nally, and Tim Cullinan, IFA president, survey Mary's dying ash trees.
“I kind of expected within a year or two we’d have everything replanted, but we were in for some shock.
“There was a scheme where I could replant under 10ha, which I did with a mixture of oak, birch, and Sitka. I’m still left with the other 10ha, which is getting very dangerous,” she says.
Sympathy
“Everyone is sympathetic, but I think they all feel ‘well, tough luck’. Schemes were mentioned, but I knew none of them were relevant. Any research I had done on ash dieback showed that where it hits, it wipes out the entire plantation. What I really wanted was to get it cleared and replanted with something that I could grow to maturity and sell, but there’s so much red tape,” says the Tipperary woman.
In this house there’s no basic payment, the forestry is our sole enterprise
The financial loss is acute.
“In this house there’s no basic payment, the forestry is our sole enterprise. We have lost our ash plantation to dieback, and we have lost four years because of the failure of the State to allow us to tackle it. Dairy or cattle farmers would be going ballistic. Imagine having three years where you can’t put your cows in calf?” she says.
IFA forestry chair Vincent Nally says Mary is just one of hundreds affected.
A single healthy ash tree surrounded by dying trees.\ Pat O'Toole
“There are around 27,000ha of ash plantations, and we have to find a solution. Forestry owners must have income support, as ash dieback will cost them decades in terms of having a mature tree crop to harvest,” he insists.
If we delay, it becomes a serious health and safety issue
“The long delays in obtaining felling licences, which are paralysing the entire sector, must not slow the removal of infected trees. They become more dangerous over time. The disease spreads from the top down, so we could salvage some butts for hurley making if a timely and comprehensive scheme is introduced,” he says.
But he warns: “If we delay, it becomes a serious health and safety issue. Dead branches are called ‘widowmakers’ by foresters for good reason. Instead of being a carbon sink, the dying trees start to release carbon.”
IFA president Tim Cullinan believes that how the government handles ash dieback is crucial to the future of the sector.
Some oak planted where Mary McCormack was allowed to take out dying ash trees and replant. \ Pat O'Toole
“The forestry service is currently not fit for purpose. Landowners and farmers will lose all trust and abandon forestry unless this problem is urgently addressed.”
And Mary McCormack refuses to give up: “You need to be strong to go into forestry, that’s all I can tell you. Every direction you try to take, there’s a block. But I won’t give up. There’s too much good land standing there wasted.”
Mary McCormack decided to plant her land outside Killenaule in Tipperary having been widowed with a young family.
“I have 160 acres (65ha) planted, with two-thirds Sitka spruce and one third hardwoods, mainly ash.
“I have fantastic Sitka, I’m very proud of it. Then I go to all the ash I planted, and it’s dead. It did well for maybe 12 years, but growth slowed and stopped. Our worst fears were realised when ash dieback was confirmed in 2016,” she tells the Irish Farmers Journal.
It was a devastating blow.
“We’re going to take a right hit on it, it was the only hardwood that had any potential value when it matured. I have sycamore and other hardwoods. They’re good for biodiversity, but they’ll never amount to anything commercially.
Erica O'Keeffe, the Tipperary South chair of IFA, forestry owner Mary McCormack, IFA forestry chair Vincent Nally, and Tim Cullinan, IFA president, survey Mary's dying ash trees.
“I kind of expected within a year or two we’d have everything replanted, but we were in for some shock.
“There was a scheme where I could replant under 10ha, which I did with a mixture of oak, birch, and Sitka. I’m still left with the other 10ha, which is getting very dangerous,” she says.
Sympathy
“Everyone is sympathetic, but I think they all feel ‘well, tough luck’. Schemes were mentioned, but I knew none of them were relevant. Any research I had done on ash dieback showed that where it hits, it wipes out the entire plantation. What I really wanted was to get it cleared and replanted with something that I could grow to maturity and sell, but there’s so much red tape,” says the Tipperary woman.
In this house there’s no basic payment, the forestry is our sole enterprise
The financial loss is acute.
“In this house there’s no basic payment, the forestry is our sole enterprise. We have lost our ash plantation to dieback, and we have lost four years because of the failure of the State to allow us to tackle it. Dairy or cattle farmers would be going ballistic. Imagine having three years where you can’t put your cows in calf?” she says.
IFA forestry chair Vincent Nally says Mary is just one of hundreds affected.
A single healthy ash tree surrounded by dying trees.\ Pat O'Toole
“There are around 27,000ha of ash plantations, and we have to find a solution. Forestry owners must have income support, as ash dieback will cost them decades in terms of having a mature tree crop to harvest,” he insists.
If we delay, it becomes a serious health and safety issue
“The long delays in obtaining felling licences, which are paralysing the entire sector, must not slow the removal of infected trees. They become more dangerous over time. The disease spreads from the top down, so we could salvage some butts for hurley making if a timely and comprehensive scheme is introduced,” he says.
But he warns: “If we delay, it becomes a serious health and safety issue. Dead branches are called ‘widowmakers’ by foresters for good reason. Instead of being a carbon sink, the dying trees start to release carbon.”
IFA president Tim Cullinan believes that how the government handles ash dieback is crucial to the future of the sector.
Some oak planted where Mary McCormack was allowed to take out dying ash trees and replant. \ Pat O'Toole
“The forestry service is currently not fit for purpose. Landowners and farmers will lose all trust and abandon forestry unless this problem is urgently addressed.”
And Mary McCormack refuses to give up: “You need to be strong to go into forestry, that’s all I can tell you. Every direction you try to take, there’s a block. But I won’t give up. There’s too much good land standing there wasted.”
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