For the Birds

Given the nature of politics it might be naive to expect our TDs and Senators to address the plight of our declining bird population; or more specifically, the fact their inaction to date on this issue enables gunmen to roam the land like the ‘ walking dead’, blasting our feathered friends to perdition.

It’s bad enough that birds that are plentiful can be shot as they wing it across the sky, rise from a treetop, or waddle harmlessly in a river or lake, but shooters are also free to target birds that are deemed to be of ‘ special conservation concern’ by our Wildlife Service.

Of the 21 birds that one can legally shoot, fifteen are listed as being at risk due to falling populations. The Red Grouse, for example, once dubbed by King of the Moorland in song and folklore, is rarely seen now in the countryside. Yet the government hasn’t bothered to ask the bang-bang brigade to kindly refrain from shooting this bird on the precious few occasions when it does make an appearance.

Also on the ‘at risk’ list are woodcock, mallard, snipe, golden plover and teal, all of which find themselves in the sights of people who turn the skies into a shooting gallery.

EU Bird protection directives mean little when ‘ exemptions’ can be sneaked in by our wily politicians to allow the killing of supposedly protected birds.

Progress has been made in efforts to restrict the damage done by so-called ‘sportsmen’ to wildlife. The use of lead shot is now prohibited in wetlands, where toxic pellets killed not only the ‘ game’ species but a host of other creatures that ingested them.

But the killing continues, and the shattered little carcasses litter our countryside. It’s time we faced up to the fact that killing birds for the craic, especially ones that are endangered or close to extinction, is itself a toxic pastime.

After years of negotiation and diplomacy, we finally took the gun out of Irish politics. Now, I suggest, we need to persuade our politicians to help take the gun out of Irish sport!

Thanking you, John Fitzgerald, Lower Coyne Street,

Callan, Co. Kilkenny.