We may be in debt up to our eyeballs, and then some, but one of the first things any visitor to Ireland will notice is the wealth of greenery we have. Our moody weather is the result of much grumbling and conversation on the part of the Irish people but it nurtures our beautiful landscape and, most of the time, we wouldn’t have it any other way.
Ireland was once said to have been covered entirely with trees and the modern day has left us with all too few of these. However, trees yet remain a large part of Ireland’s heritage and have often had pride of place in Irish myth and legend. In fact, it is said by The Living Tree Educational Foundation in Sneem, County Kerry, that “[the importance of our trees] can be measured by the great number of tree-based place names in Ireland - out of 16,000 town lands in Ireland, 13,000 are named after trees.’
So, when in debt, why not sell the country’s harvesting rights (the right to cut and sell timber)? After all, our trees are only part of our heritage and the source of 2,500 badly needed jobs.
The sale of the Coillte harvesting rights for an estimated €600 million will be discussed and voted upon by 9pm today in the Dáil. Irish Timber Council chairman, Pat Glennon, spoke out yesterday on RTÉ's News at One about the devastating effects that the proposed sale of Coillte’s harvesting rights could have on our already unstable country. He stated that the loss of these rights would put a staggering 2,500 people out of work and that a new investor would only result in the inflation of timber prices and the eventual closing of the 10 Irish sawmills to which Coillte currently provides 80% of raw materials. According to Mr. Glennon, the Exchequer will be the only one to profit from such a sale while rural communities will suffer because of it.
People Before Profit TD, Richard Boyd Barrett has vehemently protested the sale on several occasions. The Irish Examiner reports Barrett’s impassioned words as he called the sale of the harvesting rights to 1.2 million acres of public forestry “an unspeakable crime against the citizens and the country.” In protest, he said that if the sale goes ahead, it will be responsible for “asset-stripping this State of one of its most valuable and precious resources in order to pay off the gambling debts of the bankers and the speculators who have brought this country to its knees.”
In a bid to ring the alarm bells of the Irish public, Barrett tells us: “Private for profit interests will have no commitment to the cultural importance of our forests, to maintaining public access, to developing the forests in the interests of the people and our economy or to their sustainable management. They will be interested in short term profit for shareholders – pure and simple."
According to The Irish Times, a booklet published by trade union IMPACT covers the many issues that may arise from the sale of the harvesting rights, saying that visits to Irish forests are worth €270 million a year and that the “consequences of ceding control of Coillte or its assets” would be disproportionate to what “is likely to be a short-term budgetary injection.”
The Irish Government may be hard up for cash but at what cost - are the government really willing to sacrifice our heritage for the sake of a €600 million which may buy us one breath only to choke us on the next?
A demonstration in opposition of the sale will take place outside the Dáil at 5pm today with the vote taking place at 9pm. Hopefully, the vote will show that the Irish Government can see beyond the euro signs to the welfare of the people and the land that they are supposedly governing.
16 Comments
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.nosoupforU | Mar 03, 2013, 08:21 PM EST
As an old Tuam guy I'll ignore him.
seanomelb | Mar 03, 2013, 06:03 PM EST
NoSoupForU twitches fallingstars conscience and leaps to the defence of "Our UK neighbours" I'm not sure whether I should laugh at his reply or feel sorry for him. I suppose as an old Dublin boy I'll make allowances for him
RobinForester | Mar 03, 2013, 05:45 PM EST
I think it's a good offer, there not buying the land, their buying the rights to harvest the trees - a long term business- E-600 MILLION is on the table, take it.
aoibhinn | Mar 03, 2013, 05:12 PM EST
It is not "the modern day " that has left us with no trees, it is the English who stripped the country bare, as noSoupForU said.
EamonnDublin | Mar 03, 2013, 01:47 PM EST
Yes, this has "Bertie Ahern" written right through it, like a stick of Blackpool rock. The crowd behind the deal is the "International Forestry Fund" ("IFF"), which is an amalgam of "IFS Asset Managers" and "Helvetia Wealth AG", a Swiss organisation. The IFF was formed in 2009, and Bertie Ahern was appointed Chairperson of the IFF on January 1st, 2010 - nine months after it started. So, as if he hasn't done enough damage to Ireland before this, he is now sticking the boot in. The saddest thing is ........hardly anybody seems to give a damn. Éamonn, Dublin, Ireland.
anglo-norman | Mar 03, 2013, 01:03 AM EST
STEVENSTAR- You are married to a foreigner...
anglo-norman | Mar 03, 2013, 01:00 AM EST
Isn't that bozo Bertie Ahern involved in this somehow?
usacelt1 | Mar 02, 2013, 11:20 PM EST
So sad. This is the desperate action of a nation rapidly becoming Third World. This is Haiti pathetic.
STEVENSTAR | Mar 02, 2013, 10:18 PM EST
@@@@@seanomelb | Mar 02, 2013, 06:18 PM EST >>>>>>>>>>>> MATE IS A PITY THAT WE CAN'T SELL YOU TO THE FOREIGNERS.. GOING ON HERE DAY AFTER DAY AFTER DAY WITH THEM SILLY COMMENTS ... YOUR WORSE THAT AN OULD PARROTIN A CAGE IN THE CORNER !!!...
STEVENSTAR | Mar 02, 2013, 10:16 PM EST
@@@@nosoupforU | Mar 02, 2013, 02:39 PM EST >>>>>>MOVE ON MATE ... WE IRISH HAVE.. WELL WE IRISH WE WERE BORN HERE AND LIVE HERE AND HOLD IRISH PASSPORTS HAVE MOVED ON.. I WILL NOT HAVE SOME YANK INSULT MY UK NEIGHBORS !!!! I SUGGEST YOU SPEND MORE OF YOUR TIME SORTING OUT YOUR OWN PROBLEMS OVER THERE LIKE YOUR CRAZY GUN LAWS AND LEAVE US TO LIVE IN PEACE OVER HERE . CHEERS !!!
seanomelb | Mar 02, 2013, 06:18 PM EST
Selling the timber rights to foreigners is a traitorous act.
merefalow | Mar 02, 2013, 05:40 PM EST
ireland,your soul has been sold,nosoupftoru is so right,the british navy was built by irish oak,the palace of westminster is oak from the slopes of slievenamon.Ireland and england were once covered in oak as was europe,but alas all gone and the mountains covered with the light and plant destroying douglas fir,nothing grows in the dark shadow of these fast growing profit generating weeds,this sale should never be allowed to go ahead,cast off the eu,regain control of your borders,or is it to late?was the past all for nothing?.
nosoupforU | Mar 02, 2013, 02:39 PM EST
The British built their Navy with Irish timber and denuded the country in the process. "Those that don't know their history are doomed to repeat it" I forget who said that. I didn't.
bunkerisland | Mar 02, 2013, 01:21 PM EST
Selling off the existing harvesting rights to a profit focused business that has no long range concern for subsequent use would furnish a short term financial gain with a devastated land mass. Any organization only focused in maximizing income will come in quickly, work as rapidly as possible to keep expenses as low as possible and leave clear cuts that have ignored wildlife, erosion prevention and new growth opportunities. We need to maintain a management plan that harvests systematically, replants, minimizes impact on soil and wildlife while offering the public at least some measure of a recreational escape and wilderness experience. Consistent annual revenue pools that are predictable and rather certain will sustain an ongoing income that neither destroys the land, nor places the revenue gains in the hands of speculators.
Searlit | Mar 02, 2013, 12:18 PM EST
Remember for-profits will only be concerned with profits - not the health, the wealth or the economy of any country.
johnshiel | Mar 02, 2013, 10:57 AM EST
pitifully ignorant, even for an anti-business hit piece. How 'bout a few articles in IC that discuss the management of these monocultural conifer plantations in an informed manner? To me they are a blight on the visual landscape and a mistake in land management practice that needs fixing. I'd love to know current thinking about what this will look like...