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Enniskerry environmental group removes video of children witnessing tree destruction

In the video, children scream as a tall tree is mechanically removed from a site for new homes

A still from the video posted by Save Enniskerry

Sylvia Thompson's face
Sylvia Thompson
Fri Feb 11 2022 - 17:55

A video of children screaming as a tree was felled on a development site next to their Co Wicklow school has been removed from Facebook, following concerns that they were being “exploited”.

The video, posted on Facebook by the Save Enniskerry group, shows a tall ivy-clad tree being mechanically removed from a development site for new homes. The reaction of children from Powerscourt National School in Enniskerry as they witness the felling can be clearly heard – although they do not appear in the video.

The video drew strong reactions from environmentalists and children advocates, and was reported on by international media including the UK Independent and the New York Post.

On social media, campaigning journalist John Gibbons tweeted: “Oh my god, this is just horrible. It seems only young kids seem capable of seeing what we’re actually doing to the world around us, their screams are of pure despair.”

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A spokesperson for Save Enniskerry said: “We shared the video because we thought it was so symbolic of what we are trying to do – to get planners, developers and councillors to consider nature when they are developing land.”

She said the video showed how children “weren’t hardened or socialised not to care about nature”. The initial Save Enniskerry post stated that a bird of prey had been living in the tree and that the children loved watching it from their school.

However, the video was removed from the Save Enniskerry Facebook page when the principal of Powerscourt National School and some parents expressed anger that the video had been put up online. A person speaking on behalf of the parents said many had objected to what they saw as the “exploitation” of the schoolchildren by those campaigning against the felling of the tree.

Save Enniskerry, a new campaigning group, said that the school asked to disassociate itself from the video, and that the group removed it. The spokesperson admitted the group had been “media-naïve” and had been taken aback by the level of attention the video attracted.

The spokesperson for Save Enniskerry said that its main aim is “to find sensible solutions to over-development in the village which threatens rivers, special areas of conservation and Knocksink Wood . . . If developers took note and worked with nature instead of against it, we could conserve the nature and the natural landscape that we have in our village. Enniskerry is so beautiful because of its natural and built heritage,” she said.

Catherine Nunes from The Shaking Bog nature festival in nearby Glencree Valley said that as someone encouraging people to have a deeper appreciation of nature, she is very concerned about the impact all the planned development around Enniskerry will have on landscape and biodiversity.

“The shared video showed one of the many subtle and hidden impacts on our natural environment. We feel especially concerned about the degradation of Knocksink Wood,” said Nunes.

Enniskerry – with a population of under 2,000 people – has seen a number of new housing developments in the past few years.

Wicklow County Council planning application show that an arborist’s report was submitted as part of the planning submission for the development of 27 homes on the Cookstown Road site next to Powerscourt National School. This report stated that the loss of trees during development would be mitigated with landscaping of the complete site with trees, shrubs and hedge planting. The same report stated that six of the 40 trees on the site would be felled to facilitate entrance and paths, while other trees would be protected with construction proof barriers.

“We have not exceeded the number of trees to be felled as stipulated in the planning permission,” Mick O’Regan, project manager for Hayfield Homes told The Irish Times on Friday. He added that a lot more trees will be planted than felled, the details of which are currently being worked out with Wicklow County Council. Decisions have yet to be made about a hedgerow that currently acts as a boundary with a footpath running alongside the development.

However, watching children’s emotional reaction to the felling of a tall tree close to their school may raise other issues about whether we are burdening them with environmental issues they can’t control.

Responding to the Save Enniskerry tweet, Sharon Greene, archaeologist and parent said that children need to “see the change not be given the burden of being it”. “There is so much focus on teaching children about the environment and heritage, yet they are not the problem. The disillusionment from an event like this has a long-term impact,” said Greene.

Psychotherapist, John Sharry, who has written extensively on eco-anxiety in young people, said there was a huge disconnect between what we teach children in school and how we behave collectively. “In school, we teach children the scientific facts about climate change and biodiversity collapse, which clearly indicate that we are heading into environmental disaster. Yet when they go home, they see their parents and society at large acting as if there is no emergency and living lifestyles that are pushing us further towards destruction,” he said.