Plans to reintroduce Ospreys, a fish-eating bird of prey, are moving ahead with 12 chicks due to arrive in Ireland from Norway this summer.
It is part of a reintroduction programme which will see between 50 and 70 chicks brought to Ireland over a five-year period.
Ospreys became extinct in Ireland 150 years ago and plans to reintroduce the bird, once familiar over lakes and rivers, have been in train with over a decade.
Minister of State Malcolm Noonan said the TD said the National Parks and Wildlife Service has "drawn on international expertise and learning from around Europe and North America in the development of this programme.
"In particular, the project has the direct involvement of colleagues from Norway and UK, who are not only top Osprey experts, but who have led and supported other key species-reintroduction programmes in Europe."
Although native Ospreys are extinct, migratory Ospreys still visit. In early May, a large brown and white Osprey was sighted flying just over the surface of the water on the lakes of Killarney where a local placename, a rock on the lake, already bears its name.
The reintroduction project has been led by the team involved in the reintroduction of the white-tailed eagle over a decade ago and headed up by Dr Phillip Buckley.
New nesting platforms are being erected in the southeast, on a key migratory route for Osprey between Northern Europe and Africa. They will be in place and ready for the arrival of the chicks this summer.
Ospreys have a long heritage in Ireland, with several place names around Ireland, particularly in Munster, referencing the bird.
Killarney National Park is home to a site known as Osprey Rock at Loch Léin, the largest of the Killarney lakes pointing to the bird’s history in Ireland, particularly close to rivers and lakes as it hunts for fish, the NPWS said.
Ospreys are long lived - nesting in the same treetop eyrie for up to 20 years. They are also believed to be largely monogamous, and strongly faithful both to nest and mate.
While the programme may take some time for the species to begin breeding again, the reintroduction of Osprey will provide significant insights into the health of the Irish ecosystem, and its waters over time, the NPWS said.
