Plans by Coillte to sell almost 110 acres in Cong, Co Mayo, to the owners of Ashford Castle have angered the local community. Ashford Castle holds the land on a 150-year lease, signed in 1974.
According to Coillte's press officer, Mr Gerry Egan, the sale will "regularise the situation because Coillte does not derive any benefits from the lease, only liabilities".
The Cong Community Council has issued a statement outlining its objections to the sale. The chairman, Mr Wyndham Little, said Coillte had promised the local community that consultations would take place before any sell-off.
That commitment, he said, was given by Coillte's Mr Dermot O'Brien at a meeting in Cong in October 1999 when it was announced that Coillte was closing the local sawmill.
Mr Little said: "We have no ill will towards Ashford investors in this matter. Our difficulty is with the culture within Coillte that makes them feel they can do this without consulting the community in whose name they were first entrusted the forests by the Guinness family."
Mr Egan admitted that the company should have consulted the community beforehand. But he added that this situation is "a little bit different" in that "effectively Ashford Castle have been the owners since 1974".
The Cong Community Council members are worried that existing rights of way through the woodlands may now be threatened.
The future of an area known as Corcoran's Field is also in doubt.
Discussions have taken place between the community council and Mayo County Council on the provision of a public car park in this area.
Mr Egan said that if public rights of way exist they would have to be respected. He also said that the community and Mayo County Council should now be in a better position to acquire Corcoran's Field because it has one owner, Ashford Castle. It was not possible to transfer the lease or freehold up to this because of the different owners, he said.
The decision to sell was made when the Ashford Castle proprietors made the approach. "It was opportune for us to regularise what has been a very difficult situation for Coillte."