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InvestigatesSoil InvadersTEN YEARS AGO, rhododendron in the Knockmealdown Mountains hit the headlines as being a problem when a couple in their 50s got stuck in a very dense forest of it and had to be rescued.
This plant covers much of this area and visitors go there to see the pink blanket of flowers when they bloom every summer.
“People come from all over the country just to witness it,” local Liam Fleming from Clogheen in Co Tipperary told The Journal Investigates.
To encourage people to do more than drive through and take a photo, Fleming and an organising committee set up the Rhododendron Walking Festival which runs every June.
Tipperary County Council supports the walking festival with a community grant. At the same time the council is spending thousands each year tackling invasive species.
As well as guided walks, this event attracts walkers with “delicious food and entertainment… and of course the stunning scenery especially with the rhododendrons in full bloom”, according to one of its social media posts.
But though it looks pretty, this is one of the most invasive species impacting rural Ireland. Without management, it forms dense dark thickets, outcompeting native trees such as oak and hazel.
“Yes it’s beautiful. Yes it’s a tourist attraction in places,” according to the National Biodiversity Data Centre’s webpage on the plant, but “it severely impacts on many of our woodland and bog areas” and “slowly kills our woodlands”.
Not only are they bad for our local ecosystems, it was estimated over ten years ago that invasive and non-native species cost the Irish and Northern Irish economy €261m a year.
Management of invasive species, including rhododendron, are a huge financial drain on councils and public bodies.
Over €245k was spent by Tipperary Co Co alone on the management of invasive species over a four-year-period from July 2020 to August 2024.
From records we obtained through an Access to Information on the Environment (AIE) request, this was mainly on the spraying of Japanese knotweed.
When asked about helping to fund a festival named after such an invasive species, the council did not respond in time for publication.
Neither the council nor the festival organisers would detail the amount of money given to the festival, but Fleming said that it was “very little” and most of their funding comes from walkers.
Is the festival celebrating the rhododendron? Fleming said that they have “done plenty of workshops to educate people” about the plant.
That includes a ‘Leave No Trace’ programme where they tell attendees not to spread seeds and to wash boots after they come out of an area, he added.
“Even in our own area, most people wouldn’t be aware that they’re an invasive species. We’ve educated a lot more people.”
Fleming is not aware of any active rhododendron eradication programme in the area where the walks are run. “A variety of stakeholders” would need to be consulted for this to happen, he said.
The walking festival developed from a community enterprise, Siul Eile, whose aim is to bring communities together to form walking programs and challenges.
Fleming said that people “come on walks but were coming back for the social connection”, something he said was often gone in rural Ireland.
Our full Soil Invaders series on the impact of invasive plants is out now >>
Reporter & Editor: Maria Delaney • Additional Research: Anthea Lacchia • Social Media: Sadbh Cox
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That’s lovely isn’t it
@John Culhane: such a contrast in characters.. a real Garda shot during duty this morning and this waster in the next article.
There’s obviously a food chain in the Gardaí too, this clown at the bottom
@John Culhane: no comment to make on the guard getting shot carrying out his duty this morning?
No psychiatric report ordered? Strange.
@Joe Bloggs: there is zero logic in that comment. Are you suggesting that arresting drunk drivers is a bad thing and he’s being punished for doing it or its his reward?
No logic
Two months weren’t enough. His brief obviously didn’t say he had a hard upbringing.
@Keith Ellis: You won’t find a lot of cases where people get a prison sentence for a drink driving charge.
However bad his behaviour was, it occurred after the offence of drunk driving was committed. As such it was irrelevant in deciding the penalty unless he was also charged with a public order offence and there’s no mention of that. The judge is wrong here.
@John Fahy: every single day in every single court a persons behavior after arrest and in court are considered. An apology gets a reduction, offering compensation gets a reduction, resisting arrest gets an increase.
@John Fahy: lets see if he appeals it
The truth always comes out wit a few beers in you
Well done to The GARDA doing their work
@pat seery: no point appealing it. By the time the appeal comes to court he’ll be long released
Voodoo now a Garda tool
The onset of something something ,I seen this before
I once worked with this man and found him to be an absolute gentleman, he was understanding and caring. In his capacity as a Garda Sargent he went beyond the call of duty to assist people .
I can’t understand what happened to him to create this Jekyll character. I’m so sorry to hear it.
@Donnie McGowan: booze does that to some people. Most of us know someone like that
@Misanthrope: True enough, some people are just nasty drunks and should give it up.
@Donnie McGowan: only time I’ve ever heard of a personality shit like that the man was later diagnosed with a brain tumour.
Can you imagine what he was like as a garda.
Thank God he’s retired.Its the likes of that bad pill that gives the Gardai a bad name because overall there’s a decent lot in the Gardai today thank God.Imagine somebody wishing cancer on a person.Just disgusting.
Correction – Apologies. Good to hear stories which show there are honest Gardai who are prepared to make arrests and breathalyse people at accident scenes – and arrest one of their own – if the Gardai want to restore public confidence in them – this is how they do it by being honest and doing the job they are supposed to.
Any man that would use the language he used and went to the extent of writing it down on paper obviously has mental health issues ,this man worked for 35 years as a garda ,his fellow member said that he had worked with him and said he had been kind and intelligent ,this needs to be investigated further ,if the man has mental health issues he needs to be given sympathy not locked up .the the judge with all his experience got it wrong by the looks of things .
@Anthony Gallagher:
I couldn’t agree more. Even the prosecuting garda said he was kind and intelligent and he was clearly competent enough to be promoted during his career. It certainly sounds like some form of mental illness . How else could you explain such a drastic change in personality and such hatred toward his former colleagues.
I have had previous experience with Mr Kiely. This is totally out of character for this man. I find it hard to understand what has happened him over the last number of years.
I find it hard to believe that this is the man I knew. For it’s totally out of character.
Joe Kiely is one of the most helpful and understanding individuals you could wish to meet.
Very nasty comments this x garda made more like school boy antics but he was charged with driving over the limit ,period. First offence ive never heard of anyone been imprisoned . gardai hear much worse during the course of arrests but I think judge over stepped the mark in this case
@Mark Dawson: it’s the deep venom and belief he has the curse to pass it on that is so bad.
Hopefully whilst in prison he’ll be on the wrong side of some prison love. That’ll soften his cough
@Tom Harpur: you wish a person to be raped? Really? For drink driving it because he was a cop for 34 years?
You sir, are a vile person
@Tom Harpur: I don’t care what crime someone commits, if you wish rape on them you need to be locked away from the public too
And he served as a Garda I would love to know the type of law he upheld in his time as a Garda
@Alan Scott: a great man to fill in the statistics too I’ll bet.
I also can’t understand his behaviour. I know this man and to me he was a gentleman. Something has obviously happened in the 6 months since I last saw him.
Good to hear stories which show there are honest Gardai who are prepared to make arrests and breathalyse people at accident scenes – and arrest one of their – of the Gardai want to restore public confidence in them – this is how they do it by being honest and doing the job they are supposed to. ☮️
@Rita Gleeson: would he have ever been bagged if he hadn’t crashed into somebody though?
My god, it’s like an evil version of a Myles na Gopaleen story. Bizarre.
what a horrible person. seriously horrible.
Sorry, seen a picture of this man. Not the same man i was thinking of.
C u Next Tuesday
Such a bold sergeant
“Sean McGee acting for solicitor Catherine Boner”
had to check if it was April 1st.
Oh no
have your say