Will ash dieback leave us with clash of the bamboo?

World of Politics with Harry McGee

The 18th century poem that some of us learned at school lamented the loss and clearing of the great Irish forests of oak, elder, beech and ash.

Cad a dhéanfaimid feasta gan adhmad?

Tá deireadh na gcoillte ar lár;

níl trácht ar Chill Chais ná ar a teaghlach

is ní bainfear a cling go bráth.

What will we do in future without the wood? It’s a question that is more relevant now that it was 300 years ago.

We have one of the lowest percentage of land under forest in Europe and much of it in recent years has been Sitka Spruce. Planning and licensing for forest is a labyrinthine nightmare. We are meant to be increasing the land area under trees but that’s not happening. It’s going in another direction.

This column isn’t about the general; it’s about the specific. Last week I wrote a piece for The Irish Times about the imminent decimation of the native ash tree and the impact it would have on the game of hurling, and more broadly for our landscape.

It’s an ecological disaster. There’s no two ways about.

Ash, or ‘fuinseog’ in Irish is an important native broadleaf tree species.

It is the commonest of our large hedgerow trees and is a traditional woodland species. For thousands of years, it has been used for furniture, making tools such as handles for hammers, axes and spades. It is used for hockey sticks and oars.

It is tough and flexible, probably the most of all hardwoods, and therefore absorbs shocks without splintering. That’s why it has been prized for making hurls in Ireland for centuries.

A mature tree can reach a height of 35 metres and can live to 400 years.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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