Sea eagles are to be reintroduced to Ireland, Minister for the Environment Dick Roche announced today.
Following the success of the golden eagle project in Donegal, conservation experts are now being given the task of bringing huge birds of prey back to the mountains, lakes and valleys of Killarney National Park in Co Kerry.
Sea eagles have been extinct in Ireland for more than 100 years. The first young white-tailed sea eagles will be sourced in Norway before being introduced in June and July.
White-tailed sea eagles are the fourth largest eagle in the world, growing to about three feet (just under 1 metre) tall with a wingspan of up to eight feet (2.5 metres).
Using successful methods developed for other projects in Ireland and Scotland, the release phase will last for at least five years, with about 15 birds let into the park each year.
Mr Roche said: "After 100 years, the white-tailed sea eagle is coming back to Kerry. The Norwegian authorities have approved the licence application for donor stock in principle, and we are now finalising the collection details."
A team of experts from Norway visited the south west of Ireland late last year to find the most suitable area for reintroduction and reported that the peninsulas and deep bays of Kerry and west Cork would be best.
It is the second reintroduction scheme in Ireland and follows the successful golden eagle project in Donegal, now in its sixth year. They had been absent there since 1910, but four pairs are now nesting in the county, although no chicks have hatched.
There have been sightings of the birds as far away as north Antrim; Foxford, Co Mayo; and the Blue Stack Mountains in south Donegal.