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€100k for rhododendron eradication like “spitting into the ocean” – Healy-Rae

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“We desperately need an aggressive campaign”

 

BY ADAM MOYNIHAN

 

€100k of government funding aimed at eradicating the invasive and highly destructive rhododendron plant in Killarney National Park is like “spitting into the ocean,” Kerry TD Michael Healy-Rae has claimed.

 

His comments come after the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht announced the funding earlier this week.

 

Recently local volunteers and members of Men’s Shed groups from across the country came together to help clear some of the plant away.

 

The men, who had been invited by Haven Pharmacy, the Killarney Chamber of Tourism and Commerce, the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the trustees of Muckross House, cleared significant acreage of the invasive weed. The Chamber provided all accommodation free of charge.

 

And while Mr Healy-Rae was full of praise for the volunteers’ efforts, he said more help was needed.

 

“It is quite simply not enough,” he said. “We desperately need an aggressive campaign.”

 

Speaking to the Killarney Advertiser this week, Mr Healy-Rae added that the issue is “way more serious” than people grasp and that the park is “dying before our eyes”.

 

“The future viability of the National Park is at stake here,” he said. “We take the park for granted. We think that it will always be there the way that it is, but it won’t. The National Park is actually dying before our eyes because of lack of maintenance.”

 

Mr Healy-Rae claims the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, who said it was issuing a one-year contract for the management and implementation of a plan that would solve the issues caused by the aggressive weed, is not enough.

 

“The funding announced recently, the €100,000 contract, is like spitting into the ocean,” he said. “I have taken an awful lot of advice on the National Park from extremely experienced people who know the park inside out, and it will take planning, funding and continuous maintenance. Not a once-off contract that will last for two years. Not a campaign that will last for a number of weeks. Year-round maintenance is needed.

 

“Whether it will be done through schemes working on a continuous basis, or a new proper plan by government that will say yes this is a national treasure – because that’s what it is.

 

“We say the National Park is there. It isn’t going to disappear - but it is dying under our eyes.”

 

The Kerry politician has drawn ire over his comments on the issue in the past - but insists that it’s a very grave problem that needs to be taken seriously.

 

“When I stood up in the Dáil and said that the army should be called in to help solve this problem it did get people talking, but it has gone off the boil again now. People were inclined to say that it’s a bit of craic - but it’s not. This is awful serious.

 

“I want the National Park to be there in 50, in 150, in 350 years. I want it to be a place of glory and a place that our grandchildren and great-grandchildren will be able to enjoy. We have to demand better.”

 

 

[caption id="attachment_23826" align="aligncenter" width="1772"] Niall O'Donoghue (Killarney Meitheal Volunteer) and Pat Monaghan (Leitrim Men's Shed) tackling the invasive rhododendron in Killarney National Park. Pic: Valerie O'Sullivan.[/caption]

 

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Free composting workshop in Fossa on Saturday

The Fossa Climate Action Group is inviting the public to a free composting workshop this Saturday at Fossa Community Hall. Taking place from 11am to 1pm, the workshop will be […]

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The Fossa Climate Action Group is inviting the public to a free composting workshop this Saturday at Fossa Community Hall.

Taking place from 11am to 1pm, the workshop will be led by Donal O’ Leary of Waste Down, who will share his 25 years of expertise on turning household and garden waste into valuable compost for gardens. The session is aimed at anyone with an interest in gardening, improving soil health, and reducing food waste.
Diarmaid Griffin, PRO of Fossa Climate Action Group, said: “It is a great to start off our series of workshops with Donal O’ Leary of Waste Down. He has a vast knowledge on the fundamentals of soil health and explains it in simple and understandable language. Everyone can compost whether you have a big garden or none at all. Each method will be explained in detail.”
The Fossa Climate Action Group thanked the Department of the Environment and Community Foundation Ireland for their support in making this informative workshop available to the community free of charge.

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Radio Kerry to feature National Park’s dawn chorus

The spectacular dawn chorus in Killarney National Park will be the focus of the Saturday Supplement on Radio Kerry this Saturday morning. Presenter Frank Lewis will highlight the natural spectacle. […]

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The spectacular dawn chorus in Killarney National Park will be the focus of the Saturday Supplement on Radio Kerry this Saturday morning.

Presenter Frank Lewis will highlight the natural spectacle.
“The chorus of birds singing together, from about 45 minutes before to 45 minutes after sunrise, our most spectacular phenomenon in nature, is at its best during these weeks.” He said.
The programme, recorded in Knockreer at dawn on April 13, will also capture the early morning floral displays.
The programme will also include insights from 88-year-old former Park Superintendent Dan Kelliher, who describes “the amazing experience of seeing a full moon sitting on top of Torc mountain – and hearing bagpipes being played in Muckross Abbey around midnight.”
Conservation ranger Padruig O’Sullivan will discuss the Park’s ongoing development.
Walks guide Richie Clancy will share a historical anecdote: “In 1969 this tall stranger asked if I could take him to where he could get a photograph of Dairy Cottage where General de Gaulle was staying. I told him we would be a long way away but he said that was no problem that he had a long lens. Over the years there had been 33 attempts to assassinate de Gaulle. I learned afterwards that the stranger was Padraig Kennelly who started Kerry’s Eye.”
The programme will also touch on the blossoming wild garlic woods, the view from Deenagh Lodge, improvements at Knockreer Gardens, the story of Coda the monk, the bluebells, King’s Bridge, the changing path at Gamewood Bridge, and stories from Teahouse Point.
Tune in to Radio Kerry this Saturday to hear Frank Lewis in conversation with Dan Kelliher, Padruig O’Sullivan, Richie Clancy, and Ed Carty, who began their recording walk at 5.30 am in Knockreer.

Field ornithologist Ed Carty has revealed that the Great Spotted Woodpecker is breeding in Killarney National Park.

Carty will be a guest on Radio Kerry’s Saturday Supplement. The programme, recorded on April 13, (see main story) will focus the dawn chorus,
During the recording of the programme, Carty said: “During the past few weeks the Great Spotted Woodpecker has been heard here in the Gamewood in Knockreer. We expect to find it breeding here in the coming weeks – for the first time in hundreds of years or maybe much longer.”
Since the recording, it has been confirmed that the Great Spotted Woodpecker is now breeding in this area of Killarney National Park.
Great Spotted Woodpeckers appear to have gone extinct in Ireland following deforestation in the 17th and 18th centuries.
The first recorded sighting of a Great Spotted Woodpecker for Killarney National Park was in 2013, where it was observed in the Tomies Wood area. This new development is significant as it is one of the first recorded breeding activity within the Park.

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