People Before Profit TD blasts Coillte/Gresham House deal and says it ‘must be abandoned’ 

People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett has condemned the planned deal between Coillte and Gresham House Investment Fund that could see up to 123,000 acres of land and forest being sold to the fund, describing it as “a backdoor sell-off and corporate privatisation of huge swathes of Irish land and forestry.” 

The lands would be bought by the Gresham House Investment Fund and Coillte would then manage the forests on a for-profit basis for the fund.

Deputy Boyd Barrett has called on the government to stop the Coillte/Gresham House deal and last Thursday at the Dáil Business Committee requested an urgent Dáil debate on the plan.

He also submitted several parliamentary questions last year on the deal and received evasive answers from Coillte.

“This plan will lead to even further proliferation of a failed forestry model of the single species plantation that destroys biodiversity and has already led to a net deforestation and our forests becoming carbon emitters rather than carbon sinks as the mainly Sitka Spruce forests are cut down too young based on market conditions,” Deputy Boyd Barrett said.

This new proposal is only the latest Coillte plan for the corporatisation of the forestry sector.

In 2010, the Memorandum for Understanding with the EU signed by the Fianna Fáil/Green government stipulated selling off all forestry rights of the entire Coillte estate.

This plan was being progressed by the subsequent FG/Labour government until a major campaign organised by People Before Profit’s Richard Boyd Barrett, the Woodland League and other campaigners forced the government to back down.

The campaign organised a number of protests at the Dáil and a major “Walk in the Woods” demonstration in Summer 2012 at Avondale. Thousands attended this protest which was followed by similar demonstrations in Coillte forests around the country. Following the protests, the sale of Coillte harvesting rights was shelved.

Since then, Coillte have attempted to sell individual forests.

In 2021 Killegar forest in Enniskerry was put up for sale.

Richard Boyd Barrett TD raised this in the Dáil and wrote to Coillte. Coillte subsequently withdrew the sale of the forest as a result of the public outcry.

Deputy Boyd Barrett requested at the Business Committee last week an urgent debate on this in the Dáil and will be pressing for this again tomorrow when the Dáil reconvenes. He has also met with other campaigners and protests are already being planned.

Richard Boyd Barrett TD said: “This proposed deal between Coillte and an investment fund is yet another attempt by the state to sell off Ireland’s land and forests. It is a shocking move and will be resisted by People Before Profit and other groups, including environmental groups and local community groups.

“It is imperative that the state and public money are not used to facilitate and finance a corporate privatisation of huge swathes of land and forestry. These forests are part of Ireland’s natural heritage and history, and they belong to the people of Ireland, not private corporate interests.

“Coillte should be acting as guardians of Ireland’s forestry and supporting small farmers to make a living from a new sustainable forestry model, rather than facilitating investment funds who only see forestry as an opportunity to make profit.

“Ireland’s forests, instead of being sold off, should be invested in by the state, so that they can contribute to Ireland’s climate action and biodiversity targets. For this to happen the government must change the way they view forests and instead view them as a public and environmental asset, which are there to benefit all of society.”