{"id":1109932,"date":"2026-07-25T05:40:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T05:40:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1109932\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T05:40:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T05:40:23","slug":"giant-hogweed-in-northern-ireland-children-burned-gardens-taken-over-and-a-mini-forest-of-the-toxic-invader-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1109932\/","title":{"rendered":"Giant Hogweed in Northern Ireland: Children burned, gardens taken over and a \u2018mini forest\u2019 of the toxic invader \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The scale of the giant hogweed menace in Northern Ireland has led to children being burned and the dangerous invasive plant flowering in \u201cabundance\u201d and \u201ctaking over\u201d areas, according to environmental data.<\/p>\n

In a summer that has seen it flourish thanks to a damp June and high temperatures, details have emerged of the prevalence of the plant across the north, through reports made by members of the public online.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of reports have been made in recent years to the Centre for Environmental Data and Recording (CEDaR), which gathers and manages information on flora and fauna in the north.<\/p>\n

Reports seen by the Irish News include the highly toxic plant growing \u201crampant\u201d and huge clusters like a \u201cfield\u201d, with a sighting noting specimens growing over six-feet tall and almost reaching a tree canopy.<\/p>\n

\"New<\/a>\"Law<\/a><\/p>\n

Giant hogweed\u2019s danger comes from its sap, which when it makes contact with human skin reduces its ability to safely absorb the sun\u2019s UV rays, a condition known as phytotoxicity.<\/p>\n

Even a slight brush against the plant can lead to severe burns within minutes in sunlight, and in some cases the affected skin can remain at risk of painful blistering for many years after exposure, even permanently.<\/p>\n

Contact with the eyes can cause blindness, and people are advised to thoroughly avoid the plant, recognisable due to its white, domed flower heads, its thick, purple splattered stem with hairs, and its jagged-edged leaves.<\/p>\n

\"GiantGiant hogweed has distinctive purple markings on its stem <\/p>\n

Native to the Caucasus region where Europe meets Asia, the plant was brought to Ireland and the UK by Victorian botanists charmed by its striking appearance.<\/p>\n

Initially planted in private gardens, it soon spread to become one of the most recognisable invasive species, and is now a common sight in the spring and summer months near rivers, ditches and roadsides.<\/p>\n

CEDaR is jointly managed by the NI Environment Agency and National Museums NI, and revealed to the Irish News over 300 reports made since 2021.<\/p>\n

Although dates of the reports have been redacted by CEDaR for data protection, they cover all NI counties, and include details of children being injured by giant hogweed.<\/p>\n

One logged report has details of an incident in Drumahoe outside Derry.<\/p>\n

\u201cA member of the public reported that their child received burns on their legs from what appeared to be giant hogweed, which had a large bulb head that had not flowered yet,\u201d it states, adding that the contact occurred when the child walked through an \u201covergrown grass path to walk along the banks of the River Faughan\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"AA NI Environment Agency poster warning of the dangers of giant hogweed <\/p>\n

A separate report from a mother states there was \u201ca lot\u201d of the plant along the River Faughan.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy son has burns from the plant. It has not reached full height or flowered,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n

It is not stated if this was the same incident of a child being burned.<\/p>\n

Another report states a stretch of the Route 92 Foyle Valley cycle route, built on an old railway line, has \u201clots\u201d of giant hogweed, adding: \u201cIt\u2019s rampant\u201d.<\/p>\n

A patch was reported \u201cnext to a busy walkway\u201d outside the city, while describing the Bamboo River Walk pathway in Castlecaufield, Co Tyrone, a report describes the plant as \u201ctaking over\u201d.<\/p>\n

At a road junction on the Garvaghy Road outside Ballymena, the plants were reported as at least four feet in height, with some over six feet, with its leaves \u2013 also dangerous to touch \u2013 spanning two feet.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe weeds are now also spreading to the verges on the Garvaghy Road and some are close to touching the above tree canopy,\u201d the report states. <\/p>\n

\u201cI live close to the area and worry greatly about the risk that this weed presents to both health and the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Coleraine, a report has a large \u201cclump\u201d on the Ulster University campus, while another report describes the dangerous plants as \u201clike a mini forest\u201d close to the Asda supermarket car park in Portadown.<\/p>\n

In Limavady\u2019s Drenagh Estate, which hosts weddings and offers accommodation, a report described giant hogweed as \u201chugely abundant\u201d and \u201cabsolutely everywhere\u201d.<\/p>\n

Prolific growth was also reported close to the Dunnes Stores car park in south Belfast\u2019s Annadale Embankment area.<\/p>\n

Not far from there in the riverside area of Stranmillis in south Belfast, popular with walkers, a report marks \u201clikely hundreds of individual flowering stems\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"HugeGiant hogweed plants grow in Newry town centre along the canal and Clanrye River <\/p>\n

In Newry, where the Irish News reported this month that the plant was growing within arms-reach of city centre pavements<\/a>, over 12 reports describe growth along the Clanrye River and Newry Canal as a \u201clarge amount\u201d, \u201cheavy\u201d and \u201cabundant\u201d.<\/p>\n

A house in Belfast\u2019s Dundonald area was described in a report as having the toxic invader growing \u201call through (the) property, front and rear gardens \u2013 seeded over many years\u201d.<\/p>\n

Another report on a domestic property, from Ballykelly in Co Derry, has a worried householder warn of \u201cat least 10 full grown in close area of neighbour\u2019s garden\u201d.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs said along with its dangers to humans, giant hogweed \u201ccan form dense colonies which suppress the growth of native plants including grasses, displacing species and negatively impacting ecologically sensitive and vulnerable habitats\u201d. <\/p>\n

They added: \u201cIf you think you have seen giant hogweed, please report via CEDaR or the iRecord App, but do not approach or try to remove it unless you are wearing full protective clothing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The scale of the giant hogweed menace in Northern Ireland has led to children being burned and the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1109933,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5011],"tags":[39437,728,17081,1144,16,15],"class_list":["post-1109932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-northern-ireland","tag-daera","tag-environment","tag-invasive-species","tag-northern-ireland","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116979017827618083","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1109932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1109932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1109932\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1109933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1109932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1109932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1109932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}