Gun Club in Gort, Co Galway. \ Philip Doyle
Concerns are growing that control of wood pigeons by shooting will not be allowed this year.
The derogation to allow their control lapses at the end of the month.
Last year, then Minister Josepha Madigan initally failed to extend the derogation, citing lack of evidence of crop damage.
The current relevant Minister is Kilkenny Green Party TD Malcolm Noonan.
We have been carrying out control of pigeons for decades, and numbers have been steady or gently rising
Paul Carberry, chair of the Irish Country Sports Association which represents professional hunters and game shoot operators, predicts “catastrophic damage” to crops if the derogation is not renewed.
July: A summer like no other, but some semblance of normality resumed
Look back over 2020 );
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July brought welcome news to the North Kilkenny community of Muckalee, with plans unveiled for a new community centre that will transform the area.
Planning permission was granted for the extension of the building, which is to incorporate a shop and café and major internal refurbishment to upgrade the building.
Kilkenny Green Party TD Malcolm Noonan was appointed as Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform in the Department of Housing.
Tributes were paid to the Kilkenny garda chief superintendent Dominic Hayes, who retired from office that month. The Tipperary man, who led the Carlow-Kilkenny Garda division since 2015, was presented with a certificate of civic recognition.