Irish Christmas tree growers are reporting strong demand for their produce this year, particularly from abroad, with countries such as Britain, Germany and France all looking for Irish trees.
There are fewer than 100 growers in the country and they will be selling up to 750,000 trees at home and abroad this year.
Christy Kavanagh, who runs his family Christmas tree business in Newtownmountkennedy, Co Wicklow, says it is shaping up to be a good year for growers.
“There’s huge demand this year for real trees. I think it’s something to do with people being fed up of the recession and wanting to go out and get a nice tree for themselves,” he says.
"You can buy a plastic tree in a box any time but it's nice for a family to go out and pick their own tree, particularly for the children." A typical homegrown Christmas tree costs between €40 and €60, he said.
Big demand
Mr Kavanagh says he could export every one of his 7,000 trees to Germany because demand is so strong this year. "There's also big demand for them in countries like France, the UK and Holland."
Another Christmas tree grower, Dermot Page, echoes this. "We can grow a Noble fir Christmas tree in Ireland which cannot be really grown in other parts of Europe. France is the only other country that grows them to any quantities. We also grow Nordmann fir and export both of them to the UK."
He is chairman of the Irish Christmas Tree Growers group and says members expect to export about 300,000 this year, and supply 400,000-450,000 to the Irish market. Mr Page is based in Grangecon, Co Carlow, and says demand is strong and supply is good.
"I think there is a move back towards tradition. People know more about Christmas trees now and how to look after them when they bring them home and they appreciate the quality of a real tree."
Environmental benefits
Unsurprisingly, he says the benefits of a natural tree outweigh those of an artificial tree. "There's the environmental benefits, the biodegradability, the carbon footprint, supporting local industry. We plant a tree for every one we harvest."
State forestry service Coillte produces 40,000 Christmas trees a year and a spokesman says demand is very strong this year. Theft is still an issue for Coillte, and for individual farmers, but gardaí have stepped up activity in areas where trees are being harvested, particularly in Wicklow.
Operation Hurdle aims to prevent the theft of Christmas trees and reassure local growers, according to a Garda spokesman. “This operation runs from the end of October to mid-December between the hours of 9pm and 4am and consists of patrolling areas of concern, targeting suspects and conducting checkpoints.”
The operation was “ extremely successful” last year with a reduction in tree theft. Mr Kavanagh says it has made a major difference to him and the sound of the Garda helicopter is reassuring.
Nevertheless, on the night before he spoke to The Irish Times, someone had crept into his fields with a hacksaw and removed one of his finest trees. "There's always one," he says.
