Seagulls and scavengers

Sir, – Having just watched an oversized seagull walking past Powerscourt House in central Dublin with all the condescension only Lord Powerscourt himself might muster – out of my way, plebs, I'm coming through – your editorial on the urban seagull population finds a ready resonance (Editorial, August 13th). Not only are these birds very untidy, they make an awful racket early in the morning.The one sure way of dispersing these creatures is if they think there is a bird of prey lurking in the vicinity; the merest hint of a hawk and they're off. Surely there is an ancient statute allowing for the appointment of a "City of Dublin falconer"; if not, maybe it's time for one. – Yours, etc,

EOIN DILLON,

Dublin 8.

Sir, – I regularly cycle from Clontarf into the city centre, and it is rarely possible to go more than a few metres without passing some item of litter. The recycling centre on the Clontarf Road is usually a litter-strewn mess, and much of the Fairview Park is the same. People dump bags of rubbish into the river Tolka and the Royal Canal on a regular basis, and the roads nearer town are often a mess.

READ MORE

Much of the litter consists of beer cans, plastic bottles and fast-food containers. It is illegal to drink alcohol on the street, but there is clearly a zero-enforcement policy on this. In more civilised countries, such as Denmark, for example, there is a levy on drinks containers, refunded on return, which cuts down considerably on littering.

The Irish Times, in its editorial, sees gulls as the problem in Dublin. I would suggest that one reason gulls have moved into the city is that the availability of food elsewhere, such as fish in the sea, has reduced considerably.

We live in a country where many species of birds (the curlew, for example) and other wildlife are disappearing at a fast rate. The role of gulls in “exacerbating litter problems” is marginal compared to the role of humans.

The Republic of Ireland must be one of the most littered countries in Europe (the North is actually much cleaner). A section of Irish people and a lack of proper enforcement are the problems, not gulls. – Yours, etc,

DAVID MacPHERSON,

Clontarf,

Dublin 3.

Sir, – My wife, son and I recently witnessed a seagull chasing and nearly catching a cat on Fitzwilliam Street in Dublin. Evidence of the proliferation of these scavengers can be seen in St Stephen’s Green park, where they often outnumber ducks by a hundred to one. They prevent ducks from getting fed and eat their chicks. Surely time for a humane cull? – Yours, etc,

JOE RYAN,

Churchtown,

Dublin 14.