Sean MacConnell
There has been a call for a national census of the Irish deer population to be carried out urgently on which a national management plan would be based.
The call came from Mr Liam McGarry, one of Ireland's best-known sportsmen, who is a member of the Heritage Council's wildlife advisory group.
Mr McGarry, a prominent member of the Irish Deer Society, said there had been an explosion in the deer population in Ireland over the last 10 years.
Two factors had led to an increase in deer numbers: the increased level of forestry plantings and the reduction in sheep numbers on mountains and commonage which was ordered by the EU as a conservation measure to stop erosion.
"Fifteen years ago there were deer in only six of the counties in the Irish Republic. Now there are deer in every county in the State and in Northern Ireland," he said.
Estimates of years ago which put the deer population at 17,000, most of which were in Wicklow, were completely out of date.
"We have returns from deer-hunters from 2001 which show that 9,300 animals were killed in the State, 5,031 of them in Wicklow," he said.
"The previous year, 2000, the numbers returned were 8,130 for the State, and 4,216 of these were taken in Wicklow," he said.
Mr Mc Garry said 1,700 hunters had licences to kill deer.There was concern over poaching of deer, but he was even more concerned about the number of roadkills.
He was critical of Coillte, the forest service, for failing to take deer stocks into account when planting new forestry.
"Grazing areas for deer should be left in the woods which will give them shelter there and not force them to come out for food all the time," he said.
Deer, he said, had the status of vermin until the introduction of the 1976 Wildlife Act which gave them a protected season.
"We need a national plan to handle a very important resource, and in the interests of all parties there is an urgent need for a census on which to base that plan," he said.
Mr McGarry said such a plan would also ascertain the role of deer in the spread of bovine TB as there was an increasing number of applications for permits to cull animals which were causing damage to crops.
Farmers have been complaining about the increase in deer since they were forced under EU regulations to depopulate upland areas. They contend that deer do more than sheep to cause erosion of mountain and upland soils and also consume more grasses and sedges.
Cattle farmers in areas where deer are to be found in large numbers are also accused of spreading bovine TB when the animals come into contact with grazing cattle.