The circuit court has handed down a fine of €100,000 to a Coolmore-linked company for breaches in relation to the removal of over 1,000m of hedgerow.
The breaches took place on land at Ballygerald East in New Inn, Co Tipperary in 2022 and 2023. It is owned by JP Magnier and Katherine Wachman, son and daughter of John Magnier of Coolmore Stud.
The land is held in trust for Shem Drowne Ltd whose directors Conor Spain and David Gleeson pleaded guilty to four different offences last December at Clonmel circuit court.
Department of Agriculture inspector Imogen McGuinness told judge Deirdre Browne in December 2025 that the Department had been alerted by Alan Moore of Hedgerows Ireland to large-scale hedgerow removal on the farm in late September 2022.
The Department of Agriculture found that 1,150m of mature hedgerow were removed, which exceeded the 500m threshold permitted.
The works, observed by Department of Agriculture inspectors, also involved the removal of field boundaries which exceeded the threshold of 5ha permitted. The resulting restructured fields measured 18.5ha and 6.85ha, the court heard.
Two clay banks which were in place when the Department of Agriculture issued a prohibition notice in 2022 were also removed in late 2023, breaching the prohibition order.
The court heard on Friday 13 March that the hedgerow removed dates back to the 1700s and 1800s and that it would take 50 years to regenerate a similar level of biodiversity and flora and fauna interaction.
Fine
Judge Deirdre Browne arrived at a headline penalty of €150,000 for all offences but after taking into account mitigation such as the signed pleas of guilty, the very "public and open acknowledgment of the accused of its failings which were accepted as being substantial in nature" as well as protocols implemented to prevent a recurrence of the offending activities, she reduced the fine to €100,000.
"The accused company has no previous convictions and can be regarded as a corporate entity of good character," judge Browne said.
She apportioned the overall figure with a fine of €16,666 respectively for counts one and two, and fines of €33,334 for each of counts three and four.
Shem Drowne Ltd has two months to pay the fine.
In mitigation of the breach landowners JP Magnier and Katherine Wachman, made a €30,000 donation to the Native Woodland Trust and Saint Vincent de Paul.
Meanwhile, speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal after the sentencing on Friday, Alan Moore from hedgerows Ireland said that he was expecting a somewhat higher fine to act as a "greater deterrent" to such offences.
Read more
Coolmore-linked company pleads guilty to multiple hedgerow offences
The circuit court has handed down a fine of €100,000 to a Coolmore-linked company for breaches in relation to the removal of over 1,000m of hedgerow.
The breaches took place on land at Ballygerald East in New Inn, Co Tipperary in 2022 and 2023. It is owned by JP Magnier and Katherine Wachman, son and daughter of John Magnier of Coolmore Stud.
The land is held in trust for Shem Drowne Ltd whose directors Conor Spain and David Gleeson pleaded guilty to four different offences last December at Clonmel circuit court.
Department of Agriculture inspector Imogen McGuinness told judge Deirdre Browne in December 2025 that the Department had been alerted by Alan Moore of Hedgerows Ireland to large-scale hedgerow removal on the farm in late September 2022.
The Department of Agriculture found that 1,150m of mature hedgerow were removed, which exceeded the 500m threshold permitted.
The works, observed by Department of Agriculture inspectors, also involved the removal of field boundaries which exceeded the threshold of 5ha permitted. The resulting restructured fields measured 18.5ha and 6.85ha, the court heard.
Two clay banks which were in place when the Department of Agriculture issued a prohibition notice in 2022 were also removed in late 2023, breaching the prohibition order.
The court heard on Friday 13 March that the hedgerow removed dates back to the 1700s and 1800s and that it would take 50 years to regenerate a similar level of biodiversity and flora and fauna interaction.
Fine
Judge Deirdre Browne arrived at a headline penalty of €150,000 for all offences but after taking into account mitigation such as the signed pleas of guilty, the very "public and open acknowledgment of the accused of its failings which were accepted as being substantial in nature" as well as protocols implemented to prevent a recurrence of the offending activities, she reduced the fine to €100,000.
"The accused company has no previous convictions and can be regarded as a corporate entity of good character," judge Browne said.
She apportioned the overall figure with a fine of €16,666 respectively for counts one and two, and fines of €33,334 for each of counts three and four.
Shem Drowne Ltd has two months to pay the fine.
In mitigation of the breach landowners JP Magnier and Katherine Wachman, made a €30,000 donation to the Native Woodland Trust and Saint Vincent de Paul.
Meanwhile, speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal after the sentencing on Friday, Alan Moore from hedgerows Ireland said that he was expecting a somewhat higher fine to act as a "greater deterrent" to such offences.
Read more
Coolmore-linked company pleads guilty to multiple hedgerow offences
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