John Gallagher
THE GOVERNMENT has chosen Donegal as its new battleground as it bids to sell of our forests.
Coillte confirmed what Donegal Daily reported last month to last night’s RTE1 TV programme ‘Ear To The Ground’ – that 1,100 acres of forestry between Ballybofey and Glenfin is to be privatised.
And even private forest owners are opposing the move.
John Gallagher, the chair of the Glenfin Area Council, told the programme that his community felt let down by the proposed sale.
“Back in the Sixties we were very optimistic because we were told that when these forestries grew up there would be a lot of jobs and a lot of work and that we would all benefit as a result of it,” he said.
“Now there would be disappointment that the forestries have grown up the timber is being sent away in its raw state and there are no jobs being created in the community.
“If a private developer comes in it’s going to be all about money whereas Coillte will have some conscience about the general environment and how it affects the local community. Someone who is there purely for profit will not have that conscience,” said John.
Half of all forestry in the State is owned and run by Coillte.
John Jackson a member of the private Donegal Woodland Owners Society, said his investment in forestry 17 years ago was beginning to pay dividends, especially as more and more people turned to wood as a fuel to replace more expensive oil.
But he says he is alarmed by the planned sale of 1,100 acres of private land.
“I was told by the Taoiseach and the Minister Simon Coveney at the McGill Summer School in Glenties last year that no State land under forestry was going to be sold,” claimed Mr Jackson.
“And a few months later we have 1100 acres of state forestry up for sale.”
Coillte refused to be interviewed on the programme, instead providing a statement.
“The sale of this property is not connected to the potential sale of the harvesting rights to Coillte forests,” it said.
There are fears that further sales of land will restrict public access. Coillte already has more restricted access to its forests than any public organisations in other countries.
Tomas Becht, originally from the Black Forest in Germany, privately owns forests both here in Co Donegal and in his native Germany.
He said he allowed access because that is the tradition in Germany.
“German people would have more rights on private land than (people have) on land here in Ireland,” he said.
“Coillte is quite tolerant but by law the public does not have the right to access here in Ireland,” he added.