The new programme manager for the deer management strategy has been urged to put “real action” in place to achieve a sustainable deer population in Ireland.
The call was made by the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) on the back of the awarding of the tender for deer management strategy programme manager to Farm Relief Services (FRS).
Welcoming the appointment, ICMSA deputy president Eamon Carroll said that we need to see real action on the ground this year.
He is seeking a reduction to the deer population to a sustainable and realistic level in the interests of road safety, biodiversity, farm management and the control of TB.
“Initially, this was a Wicklow issue, then it spilled into counties surrounding Wicklow and now it’s a nationwide problem, with farmers from every corner of the State expressing genuine concerns about the growth in the deer populations and the negative impact this is bringing across a range of questions.”
Appointment
Farmers have for many years been seeking action on the deer population and the filling of this position could signal that the reduction will begin, according to the ICMSA.
The association added that deer populations had been “ignored to the detriment of the rural environment and communities” over the past few years.
“The appointment of a programme manager is certainly a step in the right direction, but [the] ICMSA believes that the process now needs to be accelerated and those areas, specifically Wicklow, which have an unsustainable deer population need to see real action in real time to a degree that’s going to start bringing the deer population down to a sustainable level,” added Carroll.
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