The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has decided that the temporary closure of the hunting season for wild birds brought in last week should be extended for a further week due to the continuing cold and freezing weather conditions across the State.
The Department consulted with the National Association of Regional Game Councils (NARGC), other representative hunting organisations, farming organisations and Birdwatch Ireland, all of whom support this extension which will now close the hunting of birds up to and including 21st December 2010.
The temporary closure is to protect wild ducks, geese and waders and other wild game birds during this cold weather. The National Parks and Wildlife Service urges all hunters to respect this measure which clearly has a conservation benefit for the long-term populations of these wild game species. This temporary closure of the hunting season will allow for the hunting of pen-reared birds, but this will require a licence. The situation will be reviewed by Tuesday 21st December.