Hi all,
Apologies for the title of this article from the "Limerick Leader",but just goes to show what kind of mindset we have to deal with here in Ireland....
Harry
'Shoot the bastards'
By PATRICIA FEEHILY
Threatened and threatening: the hen harrier
OVER 800 people attended the IFA's public meeting in Templeglantine on the Dúchas hen harrier protection plan.
It was one of the biggest meetings ever held in the area, and seldom was the mood so raptorial or so trigger-happy.
It would have been comic if it weren't so serious--serious for the farmers whose lands and livelihoods are threatened by special designation and for the bird which has been in decline since 1900 and which almost became extinct in 1954, apparently from "persecution", although the farmers claim that they lived in harmony together for generations until Dúchas appeared.
Everything was up in the air at the meeting. An attempt by Dúchas director, John Wilson to put the hen harrier in "its historic, legal and scientific context" left the farmers of West Limerick totally unimpressed.
With no real clarification of anything, they emerged from the Devon Inn threatening to "shoot the bastards".
"The hen harrier will need a rosary beads around his neck from now on," growled one of them ominously.
It seems that you'll never take the gun out of Irish politics. The EU already has the gun to the heads of the Dúchas people over the designation of SPAs . "There's a threat of court action if we don't get on with the job," Mr Wilson pleaded.
And IFA leader, John Dillon was cheered to the rafters when he told the meeting how they used to deal with birds of prey hovering over his mother's chickens in the farmyard at home when he was young.
"When this fellow appeared in the sky, the first thing we got was the gun to sort him out."
The Dúchas officials were horrified.
Mr Dillon was at his fiery best, and has banned Dúchas from the lands of West Limerick, North Cork and North Kerry until the farmers get justice and fair play. The hen harrier may yet be a party to the partnership talks, but as someone remarked at the meeting, the cost of the Government's jet fleet will be peanuts compared to the cost of keeping him in the air.
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Apologies for the title of this article from the "Limerick Leader",but just goes to show what kind of mindset we have to deal with here in Ireland....
Harry
'Shoot the bastards'
By PATRICIA FEEHILY
Threatened and threatening: the hen harrier
OVER 800 people attended the IFA's public meeting in Templeglantine on the Dúchas hen harrier protection plan.
It was one of the biggest meetings ever held in the area, and seldom was the mood so raptorial or so trigger-happy.
It would have been comic if it weren't so serious--serious for the farmers whose lands and livelihoods are threatened by special designation and for the bird which has been in decline since 1900 and which almost became extinct in 1954, apparently from "persecution", although the farmers claim that they lived in harmony together for generations until Dúchas appeared.
Everything was up in the air at the meeting. An attempt by Dúchas director, John Wilson to put the hen harrier in "its historic, legal and scientific context" left the farmers of West Limerick totally unimpressed.
With no real clarification of anything, they emerged from the Devon Inn threatening to "shoot the bastards".
"The hen harrier will need a rosary beads around his neck from now on," growled one of them ominously.
It seems that you'll never take the gun out of Irish politics. The EU already has the gun to the heads of the Dúchas people over the designation of SPAs . "There's a threat of court action if we don't get on with the job," Mr Wilson pleaded.
And IFA leader, John Dillon was cheered to the rafters when he told the meeting how they used to deal with birds of prey hovering over his mother's chickens in the farmyard at home when he was young.
"When this fellow appeared in the sky, the first thing we got was the gun to sort him out."
The Dúchas officials were horrified.
Mr Dillon was at his fiery best, and has banned Dúchas from the lands of West Limerick, North Cork and North Kerry until the farmers get justice and fair play. The hen harrier may yet be a party to the partnership talks, but as someone remarked at the meeting, the cost of the Government's jet fleet will be peanuts compared to the cost of keeping him in the air.
Next Item ...
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