By Andy Spearman
Some of the issues facing the citizens of Drogheda are crime, chronic drug abuse, widespread littering, the housing shortage, traffic chaos, dereliction and vacant buildings. But what has got our Councillors, some of them at least, with their underwear in a twist? Seagulls!
There can be little doubt that there are a lot of seagulls around at the moment but there always is at this time of year. With nests full of chicks to feed, seagulls go where they can find food and dustbins and bags of rubbish dumped in back streets are easy pickings.
Both Deputy Mayor Kevin Callan and outgoing Mayor Michelle Hall raised the issue at the June Borough District meeting with both commenting on seagull droppings across town which they encountered whilst on a Sunday morning clean-up two weeks ago.
Councillor Callan has put forward a motion for the next Borough meeting asking Louth County Council to consider taking steps to reduce the seagull population in the town. Quite how the Council would cull the seagull population is unclear however, especially as they may be a protected species.
Meanwhile, former Councillor and Mayor Frank Godfrey has organised a public meeting to take place on Monday June 26th in the DHotel starting at 7.00 pm to discuss the issue.
Speaking to the Drivetime programme on RTE Radio, Frank said seagulls are “dropping dirt on streets, rooftops and cars” which he said was unsightly. He added that there had also been cases of “cars being scratched”.
“It’s a big problem which the council is not addressing” he said. “Something must be done. The sea is the place for them!”
For his part, Councillor Callan said he has been a volunteer with Tidy Towns for nearly ten years and he has never seen the situation with seagulls as bad.
“The cause is clear however and that is the volume of rubbish being left on our streets. When we have bins left out overfilled, black bags of rubbish and take away food thrown all over the streets, this is the direct result.
“I have been speaking to local businesses who are doing their bit, keeping their area clear and clean and they then suffer from droppings on their windows and awnings, further to this cars are being destroyed with droppings and businesses with outdoor areas are unable to manage keeping the gulls off walls and furniture” he said.
“On top of this, the noise is terrible and is impacting on people living in the town centre area.”
Meanwhile, people were still bringing their children to the riverside at Dominic’s Park today where they were openly feeding seagulls as well as crows and pigeons which, for all we know, may be even more deadly than seagulls.
