A six-year-old boy in Moynalty, Co Meath, has appealed to Taoiseach Bertie Ahern for his help in saving an avenue of oak and beech trees from being bisected by an ESB power line.
In his letter to the "TheeShock", young Tim-Patrick O'Byrne said he lives in an old house called Drumlayne and that an ESB man had given his mother a letter saying "he was coming to cut down our trees on our avenue next week. She cried all day," he wrote.
"We love our trees. Because they are the biggest trees in Ireland", and they all had their own names, he added.
The boy's father, Harry O'Byrne, said yesterday that his son had received only an acknowledgment from the Taoiseach's office, referring him to Minister for Natural Resources Noel Dempsey, who is a TD for Meath.
"He said he would look into it, but we have heard nothing since," Mr O'Byrne said.
"The ESB have been so intransigent about this you wouldn't believe it.
"They're ignoring a recommendation that the avenue should be listed in the Meath heritage plan".
ESB Networks is seeking a licence to fell some of the trees along the avenue, which is some 250 metres long, to make room for a 38-kilovolt power line. Project manager John Mulvaney said it was "not possible to reroute this line".
In a letter to Mr O'Byrne, he said: "We will endeavour to minimise the impact on the avenue. Any suggestions you may have with regard to mitigating any adverse impact of the line on the landscape will be considered - eg, screening".
The O'Byrnes want the power line rerouted to the rear of their house, to protect the integrity of the tree-lined avenue.
They were told that this could be done only if they were prepared to contribute €100,000.
The previous owner of Drumlayne House was the late Dorothy McWhirter, who was well-known in both An Taisce and Irish Farmers' Association circles as a committed conservationist.
Her family had been living there since the early 19th century.
"The ESB's proposal to run wires across her avenue, erect large poles on either side of it, and cut trees for the wires to go through, would be an affront to everything that the McWhirter family stood for," said Mary Rafferty, the current owner.
Partner of Mr O'Byrne and mother of six-year-old Tim, Ms Rafferty said the magnificence of the avenue at Drumlayne "is a monument to the proud Protestant ethos and tradition which is so much a part of what shaped Ireland's heritage.
"My kids are more worried about the buzzards who have been nesting and roosting in the trees over the past number of years.
"The diggers are on the neighbouring farm putting up the poles, so we're next - unless something is done to stop it".
Ms Rafferty noted that the Meathill-Mullagh 38kv line had been rerouted to accommodate other structures, "but the century-old avenue . . . does not appear to have a voice powerful enough to protect it since the passing of the last of the McWhirters".
An ESB spokesman said it was not planning to fell any trees, merely to "prune the tops of no more than two trees on the avenue".
He also noted that the ESB is required to provide the most economic and technically feasible route for power lines.
