merrion street

In Killarney Plaza Hotel tonight, Thursday 24th October, Third in a series of Free Autumn illustrated Talk Series

Thursday October 24th 2013 The third in the series of seven Illustrated Autumn Talks as announced by Jimmy Deenihan T.D., Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht earlier this month will take place in the Killarney Plaza Hotel at 8pm.

Tonight’s talk will be given by mammal ecologist Emma Sheehy on the recovery of the Pine Marten and the regional decline of the Grey Squirrel in Ireland.

Taking place once a week between now and Friday 22 November these talks report on a range of interesting topics. Speaking about tonight’s talk Minister Deenihan said “The Pine Marten is native to Ireland and was once common throughout the country. It is one of our rarest mammals and has been protected since 1976. Recently, I launched a leaflet providing poultry farmers with practical advice on how to protect their birds from Pine Martens, by constructing pens which ensure that the fowl is secure and the pine marten unable to penetrate."

"All of these talks provide opportunities to increase our knowledge about the environment around us."

Note for Editors:

These illustrated talks start at 8 p.m. and admission is free.

Emma Sheehy - 24th October 2013

Emma Sheehy is a mammal ecologist, recently completing a PhD investigating the role of the pine marten in Irish squirrel population dynamics. The study took place in the midlands and the east of Ireland between 2009 and 2013. Emma is presently working in NUI Galway.

For more information see http://www.npws.ie/events/name,15230,en.html