Winner of the “Forests for Wood”  Teagasc Forest Photo Competition

The Teagasc Forestry Development Department today, Thursday, 15 December, announced the prize winners in category 3, the final category, of its forest photo competition ‘Celebrating a shared national vision of trees, woods and forests’. The theme of category 3 is “Forests for Wood” and the winner is Brendan Cullen from Wicklow. Brendan’s vibrant picture, titled “Beyond the Trees“, was taken at the marvellous viewing tower in Avondale Forest Park in Wicklow. Commenting on his entry, Brendan said his photo captures the outstanding design of Irish wood and he couldn’t think of a better example of such innovation than the wonderful facility in Avondale.  

The winning photo was selected from a range of photographs submitted to the competition from across the country. Brendan will receive a voucher worth €400 and is also entered into the Grand Final. The selected overall winner from each of the three category winners will be announced this Friday, December 16 and will receive a further voucher for €600. 

Teagasc Forestry Liaison Officer, Paul Butler, complimenting the winner, described how Brendan’s image captures both the elegance and fantastic potential of Irish wood which have been combined into a world-class recreation and tourism facility in Avondale Park, County Wicklow.  

The two runners up in this final category will each receive vouchers to the value of €100. Vicky Kelleher submitted a beautiful image of a maturing productive forest that will provide future wood resources for home construction and many other uses.  Colm Cusack’s photo, “Neat and Tidy”, highlights active forest management in a young broadleaf woodland belonging to his father Thomas in County Cavan. 

The winning photo from category 3, along with the runners up in the “Forests for Wood” category, are available for viewing on the forestry section of the Teagasc website at www.teagasc.ie/forestphotos22. 

Teagasc wishes to thank the many entrants to this competition – for taking part, for presenting such fantastic entries and for reminding us all to look more closely at our forests and the beauty contained therein. 

This competition is coordinated by Teagasc with support from the Forestry Division of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.