Sir, – The outline of the new plan to protect wildlife on Bull Island is certainly very encouraging, with restrictions on access at various levels and marked by colour-coded signage (“Proposal to restrict dog walkers from areas of nature reserve”, News, April 4th).
However, I note that the last line of the report says that “the visitor access management plan is based on a voluntary code”. In the past, Bull Island had its own sub-species of hare, and restrictions on dogs running loose were clearly signposted and backed by a dog warden.
However, dog owners did let their dogs run loose and very aggressive towards the dog warden when challenged. There are now no hares on Bull Island.
Voluntary codes do not work in Ireland, as this sorry history shows. Instead we need wardens, backed up, where necessary, by the Garda and substantial fines for those who flout the regulations. – Yours, etc,
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DONAL McGRATH,
Greystones,
Co Wicklow.