Understanding hedges better is the theme of this year’s Teagasc Hedgerow Week, which kicks off on Friday 3 December and will be launched by Minister of State Pippa Hackett on the weekly Teagasc Signpost webinar at 9.30am.

There will be a webinar streamed each morning at 9.30am to 10.30am from 6 to 10 December hosted by Teagasc’s countryside management specialist Catherine Keena.

Catherine will give advice on planting hedges as farmers undertake the task over the winter and will be joined by a host of different experts and stakeholders throughout the week.

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A full line-up of speakers is outlined below.

Monday 6 December - the state of Ireland’s hedgerows both quantity and quality

  • Lilian O’Sullivan - Teagasc biodiversity researcher.
  • Julie Larkin RPS - former Teagasc PhD student.
  • Shirley Clerkin - heritage officer, Monaghan County Council.
  • Mark McDowell - Hedge Laying Association of Ireland.
  • Alan Moore - Hedgerows Ireland.

    • Tuesday, 7 December - biodiversity of hedges.

  • Jesmond Harding - Butterfly Conservation Ireland.
  • Ruth Wilson - all-Ireland pollinator plan, farmland pollinator officer.
  • Eanna Ni Lamhna - author, broadcaster and journalist.

    • Wednesday, 8 December - hedgerow management.

  • Francis Quigley - Teagasc machinery specialist.
  • Tony Mullins - Cork dairy farmer cutting his own hedges.
  • Liam Herlihy - Limerick dairy farmer and hedge-cutting contractor.
  • Pauric O Brein - Cahir hedge-cutting contractor.
  • Aine O’Connell - IFA dairy policy executive.
  • Denis Drennan – ICMSA member and Kilkenny dairy farmer.
  • Susan Callaghan - NPWS divisional ecologist

    • Thursday, 9 December - food from hedges.

  • Regina Sexton - food and culinary historian, programme manager of the postgraduate diploma in Irish food culture, UCC.
  • Rosemarie Cusack - cookery demonstrator.
  • Mary White - Blackstairs Eco Trails.

    • Friday, 10 December - the value of native provenance trees and hedging stock.

    The Teagasc Signpost webinar will discuss the value of native provenance trees and hedging stock and how to reduce health risks to them. CEO of Woodlands of Ireland Joe Gowran and chairperson of the Society of Irish Plant Pathologists Maria Cullen will cover these topics.

    For more information on Teagasc Hedgerow Week or to register for the webinars, click here.