A new Garda operation with the Irish Christmas Trees Growers Association (ICTGA) has seen a sharp fall in the large-scale theft of Christmas tree robberies this year.
The annual Operation Hurdle was launched last month in a bid to eliminate thefts of the trees, specifically in the Wicklow uplands area.
GardaÍ said on Monday there have been no reports of significant thefts to date.
Tony Johnston, chair of the ICTGA said “you’ll always get small opportune theft”. “There’s no way around that but Operation Hurdle is more focused on the large-scale organised crime.
“It can be catastrophic for growers. You could be looking at between 600 and 1,000 trees taken in one night which would cost the grower up to €20,000. These incidences tended to happen around the Wicklow Hills.
“Operation Hurdle has been very successful in the last number of years. It seems to have acted as a deterrent.”
Up to 400,000 trees are expected to be sold throughout Ireland and a further 200,000 exported to European markets, such as the UK, Germany and France this year. The industry is worth an estimated €21 million to the national economy annually.
Mr Johnston said growing conditions have been “excellent” for Christmas trees this year.
“You have some of the best looking Christmas trees the country has ever seen. It all came together very well in terms of weather this year - you had no late frost at the beginning of the year while August was generally dry with not much fungus growing.
“It’s always just a juggling act. Some years are more difficult than others.”
GardaÍ are advising tree growers to be “particularly vigilant” at this time of year and report all suspicious activity.
