Groups to cull deer population in Leitrim will be in place by end of year - IFA

Plans are in place to cull the deer population which has caused issues to farmers in Leitrim and other areas, according to TJ Maher, Chairperson of the IFA’s Animal Health Committee.

Following a meeting of the Deer management strategy group yesterday, Mr Maher said: “The need for a cull from the government was accepted. The deer management forum is now advertising for a manager and they intend on having 10 groups for culling in place across the country by the end of the year.” 

There have been repeated calls for action on this issue from affected residents in Leitrim as the deer population has risen sharply there like in other parts of the country in recent years.

“It has been an issue for a number of years particularly in the last two or three years… the increase to the population of deer in north Leitrim is phenomenal” said Cllr Padraig Fallon.

The current overpopulation of deer causes significant headaches for farmers as they damage fences and spread disease. They also hurt bio-diversity in the area and pose a danger on roads.

“Something has to be done, I know there are individuals who will be concerned about it and won’t want anything done about them, but it is impacting the livelihood of the farmers with regards to fodder and there is no doubt about that,” according to cllr Fallon.

“It is something that will be welcomed by the vast majority of farmers. I can say that I have been contacted by farmers in the past seeking as much,” he adds.

In order to combat the problem the changes have been made that make it easier for hunters and farmers to get a licence to kill deer while the annual hunting season was also extended to March to give more time to cull the population. 

The current population of deer in the region is unknown as there have not been any surveys to count them in recent years.