AFTER the hard time shareholders gave them at the annual meeting over the sponsorship of the Irish rugby team, the Irish Permanent may consider following the British example and moving into the wildlife sector. In Britain wildlife "champions" are to cough up half of the £40 million needed to save 116 threatened species. Among the attractive deals which have been snapped up are sponsorship of the dung beetle, the Lundy Cabbage, the lady's slipper orchid and the netted carpet moth. Still open for sponsorship by the Permo or other benefactors are the brown hare, the great crested newt and a range of bats. Also still awaiting an offer is the Margin's old friend, the Desmoulin's whorl snail which, avid readers will remember, is threatening to hold up the construction of the Newbury by pass.

The Margin will resist the temptation to compare the species' chances of success with that of the rugger team. In recent years both have, at times, appeared close to extinction.