Business owners and residents of the seaside village of Dalkey in south Dublin have expressed shock at the removal of about a dozen decorative trees along with lavender bedding plants on Tuesday.
The trees were removed by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, the council confirmed, although what happened to the bedding plants is less certain.
About 15 trees in a series of planters along the length of Castle Street were installed by the county council in November 2022 as part of post-Covid measures to improve the ambience of the street.
The council had placed about 20 planters along Castle Street from the Ulverton Road junction to the Railway Road junction, blocking off spaces previously used for car parking and installing benches in some sections of the street, making it more pedestrian friendly.
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Some of the planters were planted with hedging and with lavender and other decorative bedding plants. The trees were festooned with fairy lights at Christmas, lending a seasonal appearance to the street.
Dalkey, which has an active Tidy Towns Committee, subsequently emerged as the overall winner in the Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Tidy Districts Competition last October. Dalkey also picked up the award for Best Town or Village of between 6,000 and 9,000 people.
However on Tuesday evening locals were shocked to see about 10 of the trees had been removed, being cut from the planters, leaving a stump of about 10cm. The felled branches and leaves were tidied up and removed.
Many townspeople took to the Dalkey Community Forum to question whether the trees had been removed because they were non native, but if so why were they planted in the first place.
Local Robert Trench said many people were shocked and questioned whether vandals had been involved in removing the trees. He said townspeople were mystified by the sudden disappearance of the trees and plants. “If they were removed by the council then I think they could have been repositioned, replanted or given away.”
Pamela Cooney, owner of the Grapevine restaurant, said three trees outside her premises were not taken, but she was aware of some trees and lavender bedding plants which had disappeared along the street. She said she was mystified by the absence of trees and plants, and could not explain it. Some trees outside Benitos restaurant also remained in place, she said.
However, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council revealed it had been responsible for the removal. In a statement to The Irish Times the council said: “The trees in question were acacia trees, and they were unhealthy or dead trees that needed to be removed. The area is being refurbished with planters, in conjunction with Dalkey Tidy Towns Committee.”
Efforts to contact a spokesperson for the Tidy Towns committee were unsuccessful. A trader who asked not to be named said the traders would look forward to “some consultation” on what trees would be put in place.
