Seagulls terrorising the public for food are set to be culled in Balbriggan.
There have been growing calls for population controls of the squawking birds which keep people awake at night. Sinn Fein TD Louise O'Reilly previously said the gulls are a "health and safety" issue which is "making life miserable" for some Dubliners.
Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien has authorised a cull of three seagull breeds in Balbriggan. Under the directive, "any individual" can remove seagull nests or eggs that "represent a threat to public health and safety; are likely to cause serious damage to crops or to livestock or are likely to cause damage to flora and fauna."
Read more: Calls to 'cull the gulls' as birds wreak havoc in Dublin
The directive against the Herring Gull, Greater Black-backed Gull and Lesser Black-backed Gull is valid from August 1 this year to April 30 next year. However, the new policy appears to contravene EU directives which mean it is illegal to kill gulls or destroy their nests because they are a protected species.
Minister O'Brien also enacted a directive whereby anybody in the country can apply for a license "to take appropriate steps to stop serious damage being caused by a protected wild bird or animal at any time of year. A Housing Department spokesman said: "To date in 2022 my Department has received only one application for such a licence to remove a gull nest from a private residence and six in relation to commercial properties to remove nests or to capture and/or kill."
Finglas-Ballymun councillor Keith Connolly previously called on Dublin City Council to look at the possibility of culling the animals. There has been a steady increase in gulls around areas of Dublin City, with some people even being forced to move out of their homes.
Cllr Connolly added that he had dealt with situations where nesting gulls have forced people to leave their home temporarily. Eggs and nests were removed from Balbriggan in May 2017, in an effort to control the seagull population.
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