Councillors debate perplexing question of dead trees

The idea of engaging a tree surgeon to confirm whether a tree is dead or not was dismissed out of hand by a member of Athlone Moate Municipal District of Westmeath County Council at the June monthly meeting.

“Are we now gone that politically correct that we have to get an arborist to tell us that a tree is obviously dead, for God’s sake?” enquired Cllr John Dolan. To the amusement of his colleagues he added: “I’d look at the trees myself and get Cllr Farrell’s chainsaw.”

Cllr Dolan made his remarks as a result of a motion from his Fine Gael colleague, Cllr Tom Farrell, calling on the municipal district to inspect dangerous trees at the iron bridge on the stretch of Greenway at Streamstown.

The council’s written response signalled its intention of engaging an arborist (tree surgeon) to inspect the trees in question and take whatever remedial action is recommended.

Cllr Vinny McCormack wanted to know how often the council engaged an arborist, while Cllr Dolan asked: “do we really need the support of an arborist to tell us if a tree is dead?”

Cathaoirleach Cllr Louise Heavin said it wasn’t always necessary to remove trees and suggested instead that perhaps they could be “adjusted.”

In response to the remarks from the elected members, Director of Services Barry Kehoe said there is “a massive problem” with ash dieback at the moment and said it is “spreading rapidly” through the tree population in the district.

In relation to Cllr Dolan’s remarks about an arborist, Mr Kehoe clarified that he was “not an arborist” and would, therefore, be unable to tell if a tree was dead or not by just looking at it.

The council’s written reply to Cllr Farrell’s motion stated that “the District will engage an arborist to inspect the trees and will take whatever remedial action is recommended.”