This article is from page 16 of the 2013-12-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 16 JPG
THE FIRST details of what location in Clare have been infected by Ash Dieback have been confirmed.
At last night meeting of Clare County Council it was confirmed that an area of forestry between Ennistymon and Lisdoonvarna has been infected with the contagious fungal disease.
It was also confirmed that three other positive cases of Ash Dieback or Chalara fraxinea have been found in trees bordering the M18 motorway.
The Department of Agriculture confirmed to the Clare People last month that a total of seven positive cases of the disease have been found in Clare. However, despite a number of inquires, the department has consistently declined to give any detail of the exact location of the outbreaks.
Yesterday’s information represents the first detailed confirmation of where outbreaks have taken place since it arrive in Ireland almost 13 months ago.
“Ash dieback disease has been found in at least three location close to motorways in Clare and in one plantation between Ennistymon and Lisdoonvarna,” a council spokesperson said yesterday.
The information was in response to a motion put forward by Cllr Brian Meaney (FF) who said that people with ash plantation in Clare were “ex- tremely concerned” about the spread of the disease.
At present there a total of 75 ash plantation through county with the average size of these plantation less than 10 hectares in size.
The number of instances of ash dieback in Clare has more than doubled over the last six months with Clare trees now the third most infected in Ireland.
According to figures obtained from the Department of Agriculture, a total of seven positive cases of ash dieback, or Chalara fraxinea, have been recorded in Clare so far this year – up from just three cases in May.
Coincidentally, strong hurling counties have, to date, been hit hardest by ash die back. The last three All Ireland hurling champions – Clare, Kilkenny and Tipperary – have the three highest instances of ash dieback in Ireland.
The Department of Agriculture has declined to give exact details of the location of infected trees in Clare and other counties. This follows confusion earlier this year when the department appeared to release contradictory information about the location of infected trees in Clare.