Madam, - Amid all the debate on the Lisbon Treaty, the WTO talks, plummeting house prices and the rising cost of food, little attention has been paid to a silent extermination of many of our traditional Irish hedgerows.
Recent weeks have seen a spate of illegal hedge-cutting, burning and grubbing out, which are offences under Section 40 of the 1976 Wildlife Act, as amended by Section 46 of the Wildlife Amendment Act 2000.
Under this Act, it is forbidden to cut or remove hedgerows or destroy other vegetation during the bird-nesting season from March 1st to August 31st each year. Hedgerows provide food and shelter for a rage of wildlife, including birds, insects and wild flowers and they are a vital part of our native countryside.
I believe that Ireland is almost unique among European countries in having a rich variety of hedgerows which at this time of year are such a stunning sight. Whitethorn, blackthorn, bramble, cow parsley, wild carrot and angelica are just some of the species growing on verges, ditches and hedgerows.
I have already spoken to the county manager in Carlow about my concern at the wanton destruction of prime hedgerows and I know that the same destruction is taking place in many other parts of Ireland.
There is ample time to cut hedges outside the breeding season and it is a most distressing sight to see hedge-cutting being undertaken at this time, particularly when it is against current legislation.
Local authorities must enforce the law on hedge-cutting, or they will be complicit in Ireland's own silent spring as we lose an integral part of our landscape and heritage. - Yours, etc,
MARY WHITE TD, Deputy Leader, Green Party, Leinster House, Dublin 2.