Flying Christmas trees have become a common sight on the foothills of the Slieve Felim Mountains in north Tipperary this month as Coillte, the State forestry board, harvests its annual stocks for domestic and international markets.
The trees are carried by helicopter a short distance to a processing yard where they are packed and transported by lorry to their destination, said Mr Liam Quinn, manager of Coillte Christmas Tree Farms.
Helicopter transport is the most economical way to get the trees from the fields. "The road network we would need would be incredibly expensive. A 40 ft lorry needs a good stretch of road to travel on," Mr Quinn said.
About half of the company's annual harvest of 200,000 trees are cut by up to 40 people with chainsaws on each of the company's four farms. They work on contract for the critical four weeks of November.
In Tipperary many of the workers are farmers or part-time farmers from the surrounding areas of Kilcommon and Rear Cross where there are two farms next to one another, covering 360 hectares. Coillte's other Christmas tree farms are in Co Roscommon and Co Wicklow.
"It is a difficult job. They are out in all sorts of weather, but there is the potential to make good money," Mr Quinn said.
Appropriately, the helicopter is a French-built Squirrel model. It is also the model used by the Garda Air Support Unit. Operated by the Scotland-based helicopter charter company, PLM Dollar Group, it has a lifting capacity of about 750 kilos, allowing it to take an average load of 20 trees.
"The pilot can do between 1,000 and 1,500 trees per hour because of the turnaround time. He does not land. The trees are roped together, there is a hook that catches on to the rope and there is a release on it controlled from the helicopter," Mr Quinn said.
This is the second year a helicopter has been used to transport trees, and it is also used for aerial fertilisation.
He said the Republic was producing between 800,000 and one million Christmas trees annually in a £15 million industry, half of which are exported. The trees for the Irish market are grown on a 10-year cycle. "The continental customers prefer the smaller tree but the Irish prefer a 6 ft to 8 ft tree, and that takes about 10 years to grow," Mr Quinn added.
The trees are wrapped in netting and packed in special pallets, enabling deliveries to be made to smaller retail outlets. Denmark is the main competitor in Europe and exports about six million trees annually.
"Overall in Europe, it is an oversupply situation. It squeezes prices and tightens the profit margin," Mr Quinn added.