THE Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht has confirmed that the Wildlife Service has refused to renew a falconry licence to the owner of the Irish School of Falconry in Ballymote, Co Sligo.
The refusal is believed to be linked to the conviction of the school's owner, Mr Michael Devlin, who was prosecuted under a different name for offences involving falcons in Britain. A Mr Michael Boon was convicted for possession of eight unregistered birds of prey under the British Countryside and Wildlife Act at Norwich Magistrates Court in 1990.
He was fined £1,300 and banned from keeping birds of prey for five years.
Mr Devlin has confirmed the conviction. He said he had used different names when living in Britain and Ireland. "My conviction in Britain is irrelevant if I'm banned from driving in England, I'm not banned from driving in Ireland."
He added. "There is no secret about my name there never ever has been. There is nothing dodgy about it. My full name on my birth certificate is Michael Devlin Boon."
Although the Wildlife Service refused to renew Mr Devlin's most recent licence application, the State authority did issue falconry licences to him from 1993 to 1995. During this period, the service also gave injured peregrine falcons, sparrow hawks and kestrels to the falconer to rehabilitate to the wild.
His conviction was brought to the authorities' attention in October 1993 when Mr Devlin appeared in a Sunday Tribune feature article. It is understood a member of the public recognised him from a BBC programme on people who had been convicted for offences involving birds of prey and contacted the Wildlife Service.
An investigation by the authorities discovered that Mrs Devlin was Mr Michael Boon.
Mr Devlin set up the Irish School of Falconry after getting a licence from the Wildlife Service to import and export birds of prey. He signed the falconry licence application forms under the name Michael Devlin.
"The Wildlife Service has told me that I cannot keep any birds of prey, but I cannot sell the ones I own. Since they told me this, I have hatched out more birds of prey
A spokesman for the Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, confirmed the refusal. "The Wildlife Service is in correspondence with Mr Devlin's Solicitor over the matter", said the spokesman.
All birds of prey are protected by the 1976 Wildlife Act. Peregrine falcons, a species native to Ireland, are listed on Appendix 1 of the United Nations Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species.