Longford Councillors call for landowners to fell roadside trees following Storm Éowyn

At last week's County Council meeting, a number of councillors put forward individual motions to remove trees from the sides of roads.

These motions are a direct reaction to the destruction wrought by Storm Éowyn just a few weeks ago.

These councillors were, Paul Ross, David Cassidy, Sean Mimnagh, and Martin Monaghan.

“I call on Longford County Council to request ESB Networks to review their policy on trees in proximity to ESB power lines as most of the outages in the county were due to trees falling on power lines,” said Cllr Ross.

This call came as a part of a three-part motion that also called for landowners to be notified of their responsibility to manage tees and hedge grows.

This call also states that legal proceedings should be issued to those who do not comply.

Cllr David Cassidy’s motion followed, “I call upon Longford County Council to introduce and implement a programme for the felling of trees under or in close proximity to overhead power cables throughout the county.”

He continued, calling on the Minister for Agriculture and the Junior Minister for Agriculture to take action on this matter.

Cllr Cassidy went on and asked the council to carry out an audit and aligned with Cllr Ross’ call to issue legal proceedings to those who don't comply.

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Councillor Cassidy made a final point, criticising the ESB.

“I just saw that the ESB Chief Executive Paddy Hayes suggested that the cost of the storm would be pushed on to the customers.

“That is just a disgraceful statement,” he remarked, “The ESB had a record of 868 million euros in profit in 2023 and I know that this money goes towards the improvement and investment of the electricity network.

“The government demands dividends from Semi-State Bodies like the Dublin Airport Authority, Dublin Port, the Dublin Aviation Authority and the ESB.

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“The ESB has paid €1.5 billion in dividends over the last eleven years.

“This money in my opinion would be better deployed into the company itself.”

Cllr Sean Mimnagh also proposed a similar motion.

“I call on Longford County Council to engage with farmers, landowners, and the Minister for Agriculture to develop and introduce a grant scheme aimed at addressing the issues of trees along our road networks, especially those in poor condition due to ash dieback disease,” he stated.

“The recent storm highlighted the critical risks posed by these trees, which caused widespread damage to electricity lines and broadband infrastructure across the county.

“This disruption cannot be allowed to continue. I’m urging Longford County Council to advocate for this support at a national level.”

Following this Cllr Martin Monaghan put forward his own motion on the topic.

“I call on Longford County Council, in light of the recent severe storm where 90 per cent of the electric faults were caused by falling trees and branches, to call in the relevant service providers and farmers to compile a plan of action to cut back and remove where necessary trees etc, that may contribute to future damage to the network. State bodies should be contacted to provide the necessary support to farmers as required.”

Barbara Heslin, Director of Services with responsibility for roads and transportation, environment, climate action, water, planning, fire and emergency, physical development and Granard municipal district then responded to these motions.

She addressed each of these motions together saying, “Longford County Council will write to ESB Networks regarding the concerns of the elected members. We will also request ESB Networks to review their policy on the tree's proximity to powerlines.

“We will also write to the Minister for Agriculture and the Junior Minister regarding the concerns you’ve laid out today.

She explained that the Longford County Council cannot fell trees on private lands.

“We will publish public notices advising all landowners of the responsibility regarding trees on their land.”

She made it clear that the council is “very keen” to see action taken against landowners who breach this.