Hedgerows Ireland make their case for protecting the environment at Clonmel Agricultural Show

Three very popular stands at this year’s Clonmel Agricultural Show featured environmental topics.

One of those  was presented by Hedgerows Ireland, Tipperaary based environmental group.

Hedgerows Ireland

Tipperary based Hedgerows Ireland is now a national lobby group promoting all aspects of hedgerows.

“Hedgerows are the Irish equivalent of the Amazon rainforests,” says PJ O’Meara from the group.

“We have very little native woodland in this country so hedgerows play a vital role in supporting a huge range of plants and animals.They also store large amounts of carbon, provide shelter and shade and reduce the effects of both flooding and drought. We need to look after them better and farmers need to be rewarded appropriately for maintaining good quality hedgerows,” he said.

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After giving a presentation to the Oireachtas Joint Agricultural Committee in February, the group is now engaging with the Department of Agriculture and environmental NGO’s to increase knowledge, protection and increase CAP payments in this area.

At the show stand Hedgerows Ireland members PJ O’Meara, Michael Hickey and Alan Moore engaged with the public and received very useful feedback and opinions from farmers and others.

There was a very positive response to the stand and it was clear that hedgerows are very popular with most people. A common request was for better information on aspects such as planting a new hedge.

A hedgerow quiz proved very popular with prizes of three high quality binoculars sponsored by David Anchell’s Clonmel company Camida.