'When we went up and saw and saw the devastation, it just really sickened me. For three or four days after it I couldn't even really communicate with people. I had to take it in. It was gut wrenching.'
Activists held a walk of remembrance through Belfast on Earth Day for almost 30,000 trees axed by a government department.
Beginning at the MAC at 2pm, they made their way to Belfast City Hall before finishing up at DfI's headquarters in the city.Citing evidence from the Public Accounts Committee report on planning in March, 2022, Declan Owens said before they set off: "The existence of a silo culture amongst consultees is... of significant concern, particularly the evidence that some consultees are protecting their own organisation's performance to the detriment of the overall system.
"If a farmer took out almost 30,000 trees there would be serious questions asked and they would be called an environmental vandal and I would argue that the largest environmental vandal in Northern Ireland could well be DfI based on that number.
Colm Sands from RARE Rostrevor said: "it's wonderful for people to come on the streets and bring a very important very important story to the steps of DfI here in Belfast. The question is why is the Department for Infrastructure destroying our natural infrastructure in the name of flood alleviation schemes all over the country, including in Newry?
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