Residents of Tullig and the extended local community turned out in force on Saturday 04 March to plant trees, in stark contrast to the industrial warehousing West Cork Distillers is striving to impose on this rural West Cork townland. The event was arranged by Tullig residents John and Valerie Blood, proprietors of organic vegetable farm Radical Roots, on their property just a stone's throw across the narrow L4241 from the contentious West Cork Distillers' development.

"It was great to host a tree planting day on our farm in Tullig," said John. "35 people young and old came out to support the Save Tullig campaign on the day. Everybody got stuck in and we planted over 150 trees in total."

Donations on the day, and online tree sponsorship from locals and people across Ireland via Irish fundraising portal iDonate.ie, raised a total of €760 towards the ongoing costs of fighting West Cork Distillers' plans to destroy this part of rural West Cork.

"That's not bad for the first Save Tullig fundraising event," said John. "We are massively grateful to all who helped with the planting and for all the generous contributions."

"The community here is devastated that the council has granted permission for acres of concrete and warehousing to replace agricultural land, hedgerows and wetland habitats in our rural townland of Tullig," said Valerie. "We are doing what we can to urge planners to reconsider that this is an inappropriate location for the development, but that is an expensive process. Thankfully, the community has rallied together and is committed to fundraising to cover the costs."

"One outcome of this is that we have come together to plant trees, and leave a positive footprint on the land. But so much more came from the day with shared stories, home-baked treats and tea, people young and old have made a connection with each other, the land and trees. It's nice to think that so many people have an attachment to these trees."

Let's hope the trees planted this month in Tullig can grow and thrive in a rural landscape free of industrial warehousing units.

If you'd like to support Tullig and Reenascreena Community Group's ongoing fight against the inappropriate development of West Cork Distillers' industrial whiskey maturation warehouses, please visit our iDonate page here, or donate via the form on this site.