‘Fallen trees’ at heart of dispute over Merlin Woods clear-felling

Friends of Merlin Woods protesters who were gathered outside City Hall last week insisted they were “not here to burn down the building” after two Gardaí arrived on the scene.

Published 1st Oct 2026, 13:35 BST Joe O'Shaughnessy Friends of Merlin Woods protesters who were gathered outside City Hall last week insisted they were “not here to burn down the building” after two Gardaí arrived on the scene. “The guards were asking us what our agenda was here,” said Caroline Stanley of Friends of Merlin Woods.

“We said we are just looking for someone to talk to, and they are going to see if they can get someone to talk to us.

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“They were also looking at solving some anti-social behaviour at Merlin Woods. We are not here to burn down the building.”

Inside, the message was clear: the council says the felling of a disputed 3.5-hectare section of Merlin Woods was necessary because the trees posed a risk to life.

The felled area will be replanted with native broadleaf trees as part of the restoration of the woods, with the council saying it wants to “bring the woodland back into safe use” after Storm Éowyn “caused devastation”.

“We want to keep the trees as much as anyone,” Director of Services Patrick Greene told the gathered media at a special briefing.

However, he said the council would be “negligent” if it ignored the arborist’s report.

“The risk rating is a risk of fatality,” he said. “I don't want some child getting injured or killed.

“This is the right decision based on the expert advice. We have to continue on.”

.Joe O'Shaughnessy While funding has not yet been secured, the council will apply this month to the NeighbourWood Scheme, which can cover up to 85 per cent of the cost of replanting.

At the briefing, the council said it would have cost an estimated €2 million if it were to fell the trees “in-house”, with the work taking between eight and ten years.

Instead, it went out to tender for a cost-neutral approach which, it said, eliminated financial risk to the council.

Outside, the voices became louder. The rumble of protest turning into a roar.

Joe O'Shaughnessy For the Friends of Merlin Woods, the argument came back to two words: “fallen trees”.

In July, the public consultation around the works was described as being about the “removal of fallen trees in Merlin Woods”.

In August, the message was again that Galway City Council would begin the “removal of fallen trees in Merlin Woods” from September 7.

Those words shaped what Friends of Merlin Woods understood was going to happen - that trees brought down by Storm Éowyn would be removed and access through the woods restored.

They told the Galway City Tribune that they did not expect standing trees would also be felled.

“The language on the posters is fallen trees,” said Ms Stanley.

“We are not making this up. The language was fallen trees, fallen or storm damaged.

“In people's eyes they thought it was trees that had fallen. At no stage did they ever say the woods will be clearfelled of the conifers.”

Joe O'Shaughnessy At the centre of that disagreement was the roughly 3.5-hectare section of Norway spruce in the North Wood.

An independent arborist commissioned by Galway City Council examined the area in July.

He found extensive storm damage and concluded that the loss of surrounding trees had left those still standing more exposed to wind.

His recommendation was that the 3.5 hectares be harvested and replanted with native broadleaf trees - an outcome the council acknowledged was not what some people had hoped for.

Galway City Council puts €130,000–€160,000 value on Merlin Woods timber Merlin Woods last gasp efforts to stop tree clearfelling failed over major problem as wildlife body probe At the briefing, it was explained that while a forester is “concerned with timber production”, the council felt the arborist’s approach “was the correct approach”.

Friends of Merlin Woods disputes that all of the standing trees needed to come down.

“Our own forest expert came in and said they are perfectly safe where they are,” Ms Stanley said.

Asked by this reporter about the council arborist’s conclusion, she said:

“Well then there are two different opinions. One is forest management. One that is used to dealing with forests.”

She believes the fallen trees could have been removed while the woodland could be managed using a continuous-cover approach.

The dispute is not over the entire woodland. The council said that 18 hectares, or 54 per cent of Merlin Woods, will be retained, including 4.34 hectares of standing Norway spruce.

It said there was agreement among stakeholders, including Friends of Merlin Woods, over the removal of the majority of the clearance area.

Its position is that standing trees were destabilised by the storm damage and posed a risk to people using nearby paths.

Joe O'Shaughnessy For local residents protesting outside City Hall, the distinction between fallen and standing was fundamental.

Ballybane resident Liz Brosnan said she still had a council leaflet describing the work.

“The woodlands for me are my refuge and my place to get away from everything.

“I have a leaflet from Galway City Council saying they were looking to remove fallen and storm-damaged trees.”

“Taking away 80-year-old standing trees. They are using health and safety to justify what they did.”

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“They were asked to clear paths and instead they are clearing the forests,” she said.

“They shouldn't have done that. They are being very uncommunicative.”

Doughiska mother-of-two Helen Flynn said there had initially been widespread support for clearing in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn.

“We would have been informed that fallen trees from Storm Éowyn were to be cleared out and everyone was in tremendous support for this,” she explained.

“It would open up access for all of us to enjoy the woods as we should. But in actuality that is not what has happened at all.”

.Joe O'Shaughnessy Renmore’s Louise Arrigan said there had been a “lack of transparency” and that this was concerning.

“Why is the contentious area given priority for felling?” she asked.

Patrick Greene said he was satisfied with the level of engagement with all stakeholders, including Friends of Merlin Woods.

“We did what was asked of us,” he said. “The reports did not give the answers they liked.”

“The work has started and that is where we are at,” said Mr Greene.

“We had a very short window due to nesting season and the possibility of more storms coming in.”

.Joe O'Shaughnessy Caroline Stanley gave a different account of what Friends of Merlin Woods had agreed to.

“The 80 per cent agreement was based on the brash removal and that being removed at once,” she said.

“At the moment there are logs and brash sitting on top of the area that haven't been removed.”

The issue of brash - branches and other material left following felling - had previously been raised by councillors.

“Norway spruce is an acidic species,” said Cllr Alan Curran (Soc Dem).

“It leaches acid into the soil and the brash must be removed. It smothers the woodland.”

Council management confirmed that while brash removal was not included in the current works, it is being costed.

“We revoke any support we had for the 80 per cent clearfell,” she said. “We revoke it absolutely.

“They have been looking at this since July. What was the plan for that? If they were mitigating the ecological damage underneath the conifers, there's already eight- to ten-year-old trees in there.

“If you look at the clearfell pictures now, there is no sign of any of those trees anymore. Nothing.

“The ecosystem beneath the canopy cover that was already evolving and growing is gone, decimated.

“When the brash removal comes in, when will that be? Three months, four months? If they get some funding through the budgets.”

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It also made some of those left standing unsafe, and it could not ignore independent expert advice where public safety was concerned.

Friends of Merlin Woods says those standing trees could have been managed rather than clearfelled.

But its argument also comes back to what people were told before the work began.

“The language on the posters is fallen trees,” Ms Stanley said.

“In people's eyes they thought it was trees that had fallen.”

The council says the long-term health of the woodland is important and that, ten years from now, it will be “thriving”, providing a “much stronger habitat and more pleasant experience”.