Madam, – The news that sudden oak death has reached Ireland is sad but long expected. Up to seven different strains of this disease have been found in tree nurseries in Europe.
I have often watched trees and shrubs being brought into Ireland and planted without checks or investigations. This happens every year all across Ireland.
Three years ago I informed Government departments about this.
Recently I have called for a recognised degree course in arboriculture and tree pathology to be introduced in Irish universities. It is urgently needed. A changing climate will bring in more of these diseases, so we need more highly trained people to deal with this.
I was informed that tree care is adequate in Ireland; something akin to a bad joke. As a small-time environmentalist I accept I will be ridiculed and ignored, but the message is important, not the messenger. Right now we are as wide open to plant attack as we are to poverty or economic abuse.
I have been researching the problems that chestnut trees are now suffering from, but this is almost being met with indifference. – Yours, etc,