The Birds: ‘dog-sized’ seagulls wreak havoc in harbour town
■ Adults and children attacked as flying menaces steal their food
FAMILIES enjoying a day out in the sun are running in terror from fearless, “dogsized” seagulls creating havoc in Howth Harbour.
In what looked like a re-enactment from Alfred Hitchcock’s classic movie ‘The Birds’, an army of feathered terrors made countless well-choreographed attacks on Thursday afternoon on adults and children as young as three.
Those that chose to eat outside on the grass opposite Beshoff Bros chipper ran the risk of getting swarmed by these opportunist birds looking for a free meal. Gemma Hogan and her eight-year-old daughter Jorjia from Coolock were enjoying their afternoon lunch of fish and chips when they were scoped out by a lone gull.
Sitting together with her sister Ellie and her three young children, the blissfully unaware family soon became surrounded.
The drop of a chip was all it took for the attack to commence. In a matter of seconds, the birds violently swarmed, snatched and wailed – leaving a trail of chaos in their wake.
“I can’t believe that just happened,” said Ms Hogan trying to console her crying daughter.
“They’re the size of small dogs and are everywhere. The ‘do not feed the birds’ signs are having no effect.
“Something needs to be done. We just wanted to enjoy our day out in peace without being attacked,” she said.
Shortly afterwards, another gang of winged beasts charged towards Rathoath local Linda Corr.
“They’re as bold as anything,” she said.
“They were trying to take my fish right out of the box. The only reason why they’re here is because people are feeding them. There wouldn’t be a problem if everyone just binned their litter.”
The influx of seagulls is not just an annoyance to the general public – it’s also known to cause real injury.
Last year, two women suffered cuts to their lips after they were attacked in Howth Harbour by a seagull that took the food from their mouths.
In 2014, Senator Ned O’Sullivan endured a week-long bout of mockery when he spoke openly about how the winged terrors had “lost the run of themselves completely”.
At the time, he claimed the birds were “getting so cheeky” they were attacking young children and “dispossessing them of their lollipops”.
But as it turns out the senator had the last laugh, which he made clear to the Irish Independent.
“I won’t be making any comment. Just look at the coverage I got when I made the statement. Thank you... Goodbye,” he said.
According to pest control experts, complaints regarding birds in Dublin have increased by 41pc during the heatwave.
Independent councillor Jimmy Guerin said seagulls in the Howth area were becoming a “major issue” for residents as more birds were flocking to the coast because of the heat.
Fingal County Council has launched a ‘seagull survey’ in Howth, Skerries and Balbriggan to establish the number of breeding gull nests in the area.