ONE the oldest trees in Belfast City Cemetery is being cut down today after becoming infected with a destructive fungus.
The Falls Road entrance to the cemetery will remain closed on Monday while the iconic tree, a mature copper beech, is removed by experts due to public safety risk.
It is thought that the tree was planted when the City Cemetery first opened in 1869, making it amongst the oldest in Belfast. Officials at Belfast City Council have no official age for the tree, but estimate that it is around 150 years old.
The copper beech tree is infected with Giant Polypore (Meripilus giganteus), a white rot that affects the heartwood and major roots of the host tree, putting it at risk of collapse.
During a recent inspection a secondary pathogen, Honey Fungus (Armillaria mella), which attacks weakened or stressed trees was also identified. This pathogen can also decay roots and stems potentially resulting in root or stem failure.
The tree has been focal point at the main entrance to the City Cemetery, with generations of Belfast citizens passing under its broad branches on their final journey.
Its towering form would also have been clearly seen from the home of Ireland's foremost Marxist revolutionary, James Connolly, who lived just yards away on Glenalina Terrace.
Councillor Steven Corr, who sits on the Council Cemetery and Crematorium Working Group, said the connections the tree has with this city is "unbelievable".
"More or less every citizen and every family in this city will have passed that tree while at a funeral or in visiting the cemetery, especially for people in the West and North of the city as it became open to all denominations."
According to experts on site, pathogens that infect and destroy trees are becoming more prevalent due to the effects of global warming, with fungi thriving in our more temperate weather.
"It's just a shame the impact that global warming is having on our trees," Cllr Corr continued.
"It's a sad that we're actually losing some of our oldest living things to global warming and the diseases and fungus that is setting in."
A Belfast City Council spokesperson said: "Alternative entrance and exiting arrangements will be put in place for access to the City Cemetery during this time with signage in place. We will plant new trees once felling has been completed. Some of the existing mature copper beach will also be preserved to form part of the biodiverse roof on the new Visitor Centre in the City Cemetery.”
