On the morning Irish Country Living calls tree surgeon David Law, he says he’s “in-between” emergencies.

He’s been on the road since 7am without any breakfast, which is testament to just how busy he is during this stormy season.

David is originally from Yorkshire, arriving in Ireland in March 1998 at the request of Coillte’s tree care section to clean up what remained of the St Stephen’s Day storm damage. He ended up settling down here and now lives in Ladysbridge, east Cork

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But how does a person decide on tree surgery as a career choice?

“My father was a joiner and I always thought I’d work with him, but when I was 15 I went on school work experience to Fitzwilliam Estate in Wentworth, which had quite a large forest and I really liked it. I had done a huge amount of rock climbing growing up and it was an easy transition from that to climbing trees. Dealing with ropes and harnesses was second nature to me at that stage.”

David worked full-time with Coillte until seven years ago when he went out on his own. Much of his work is now private – in private houses, estate houses, factories and building sites, although he works on the latter “rarely these days”. He is also still a Coillte contractor.

“We look after their roadside trees and overhangs. We don’t do forestry commercially. We do the amenity side of things, such as public woodland.”

So what kind of problems do people call a tree surgeon about?

“It really varies,” says David. “Quite often it’s to do with concern about the size of the tree in their area. It could be a lighting issue or that there’s too much shade. We call out and give advice. It’s a balancing act between the needs of the tree and the needs of the individual, and we quite often push for the tree.”

Do such sentiments imply he is a tree-hugging hippie?

“I’d be right on the borderline of that. I love trees, they’re incredible structures. We might be up a tree for six to seven hours a day. You can’t help but be awed by them. It’s a very different experience looking down from a tree than looking up from the ground. It’s a place where very few people would have been before.”

This might be why he also climbs trees in his spare time. David was crowned Irish Tree Climbing Champion in 2013. In fact, David’s dream holiday involves more climbing – up the Redwoods of Northern California, which are among the tallest trees on the planet.

While there is no doubt the recent storms are good for business, David’s enthusiasm for new custom is reserved: “Storm damage is the most dangerous thing we do. There’s a part in the back of your mind that’d be apprehensive. With storm damage, it’s extremely hard to read what the tree is going to do.”

With danger comes excitement, but after so long in the business David is no longer seeking an adrenalin rush.

“After 20 years of trees and treework, my love of it hasn’t left me. But it’d be more the care of trees at this stage.”

David is now an instructor for the trade, running David Law Tree Care and Training. David says you can become a tree surgeon by following the academic route up to degree level or going down the practical qualifications route, which is the training his company provides.

“It’s a City & Guilds professional qualification for the trade,” says David. “It’s a verbal assessment and there’s no written exam.

“We also run courses for people cutting firewood in their backyard. These are semi-professional qualifications for farmers and landscapers, certificated through LANTRA.”

On a closing note, David says there’s a fear of trees out there.

“We hear people saying ‘it’s got too big, it’s dangerous’. Just because a tree is a certain size, doesn’t mean it’s dangerous. People shouldn’t panic too much or have knee-jerk reactions. Not every tree needs removal. It takes hundreds of years for trees to reach maturity.”