Eamon Ryan needs his head examined if he thinks he’s helping rural Ireland.
That’s according to Tipperary TD Mattie McGrath who joined with farmers in calling for a reform of Coillte after it emerged that the body made a €200 million deal with a UK asset management firm.
Protests have been taking place outside Leinster House to stop the purchase of up to 250,000 acres of Irish forestry by Gresham House.
Speaking to Tipp Today, Mattie McGrath said that the attitude from Eamon Ryan towards rural Ireland is doing huge damage.
“This is the man who needs his head examined, he’s a nice man personally, I don’t want to be disparaging, but the ideas, and the attitude and the fog and the haze that he’s in is just immeasurable. And the damage that he’s doing to communities, to rural Ireland is appalling.
“I mean the crisis in forestry is before ever this issue with Gresham House, 95% reduction in the numbers of trees being planted by farmers.”
He also said that Coillte should be disbanded if they fail to reject this deal, stating that it’s bad for Ireland.
“We can disband Coillte if they refuse to reject this deal, we can reject any deal as you know, you can buy a car but you can reject the cost of something to break a deal but I’m not happy to be always breaking deals but it’s clearly bad for Ireland, clearly bad for our future generations, it’s not acceptable.”
