The Irish Times has issued a correction after it published a story in its print and online editions saying that Coillte had committed to planting native tree species only from 2025 on.
It a statement on its website, the Irish Times said the article “attributes an incorrect policy to Coillte and was published in error.
“The State forestry company has not committed to planting only native tree species. The article also attributes incorrect quotations to a Coillte executive.”
In the article, a Coillte executive was quoted as saying: “To date, Coillte has mainly planted fast growing non-native trees that are perfect for forestry and the creation of timber products but not good for the flora and fauna of Ireland.
“Now is the time for us to hold up our hands and admit we’ve been part of the problem for too long.”
Last May, Irish Times Editor Ruadhán MacCormaic apologised for what he described as a “breach of trust” between the newspaper and its readers and said it needs to make its pre-publication procedures more robust.
The apology came after the publication of an opinion article online, labelling Irish people’s use of fake tan as “cultural appropriation”, which was later discovered to have been a hoax.
