The government has introduced legislation to restrict the importation of ash into Ireland as a measure to reduce the spread of chalara ash dieback disease. Over 3% of our national forestry is under ash and ash represents 10% of all new plantings. The department has warned that the disease can affect ash trees of any age.
The restrictions will only allow ash to be imported from areas which are known to be free of the disease, where the wood has been kiln dried or where it has had its outer bark removed.Over 70% of ash in this country is used in the production of hurleys.


The disease Chalara fraxinea or ash dieback poses a very real threat to ash trees throughout Ireland and to those industries which process that species in their business. The dis-ease itself is relatively new and is caused by the fungal pathogen Chalara fraxi-nea which was first described in 2006. The precise origin of the disease remains uncertain and its biology is not yet fully understood. It has spread rapidly across much of Europe, with the majority of European countries where ash is present now reporting dieback.
Ash plants and ash wood with bark imported from countries where the disease is known to occur represents the most likely source of infection in Ireland. Approximately 200,000 ash plants and over 1000 cubic metres of round wood ash for hurley manufacture are imported each year. Firewood data is not currently broken down on a species by species basis.