Other regional news in brief
Floods wiping out rare bird site
Despite emergency conservation measures in the Shannon floodplain, the number of corncrakes recorded there this year has dropped to just four, writes Seán MacConnell.
Anita Donaghy of BirdWatch Ireland said yesterday the number of calling males of Ireland's most endangered bird had dropped from nine last year to four this year.
She said that on the Shannon Callows (floodplains) which had up to 100 birds recorded in the 1990s, there had been a steady decline since the beginning of this millennium.
"Summer flooding has badly hit the breeding birds in seven out of the last nine years and nests have been wiped out," she said. Because the birds come back to traditional nesting sites each year we may find that the bird will be extinct on the Callows next year," she said.
Ms Donaghy said the decline in the Callows, once the cradle of the corncrakes, had been offset by increasing numbers in Connacht and Donegal.
New park for Limerick
One of the largest public parks in the midwest region has been opened. The €2.2 million, 17 acre Castletroy Park in Limerick features 1.2km of pedestrian pathways, a children's playground, skateboarding area, cycle route, and a covered performance and exhibition area .
It also includes an array of natural habitats, including a 4,300sq m lake, wetlands, wildflowers and woodlands. The development, opposite Castletroy College, will be open seven days a week, and is managed by Limerick County Council.
Boil water order for town
Residents of Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan have been told to boil town water after three types of bacteria, including traces of e-coli, were discovered in the supply, writes Patsy McArdle.
The warning was issued by the county council yesterday after it emerged that two wells supplying to the town's sprawling Woodvale and Foxfield housing estates were contaminated.
David Fallon, Director of Services for Monaghan Co Council, confirmed the tests had revealed the bacteria was "from sewage contamination".