Life

Youngsters clean up for Dublin GAA match

Under 16 Kilrea Pearses hiked over 10 miles in one day collecting rubbish and litter
Under 16 Kilrea Pearses hiked over 10 miles in one day collecting rubbish and litter Under 16 Kilrea Pearses hiked over 10 miles in one day collecting rubbish and litter

WELL done to the under-16 Kilrea Pearses who hiked more than 10 miles in one day collecting rubbish and litter along the roads in Kilrea, Co Derry, as part of efforts to raise enough money to travel to Dublin to play rival team Ballyboden.

As well as collecting over 35 full bin bags of rubbish the youngsters managed to clear up an old television set and a car bumper from the roadside. Their coach Nicholas McAleese said: “All sponsorship collected so far has been by the boys themselves, through their own initiative, as they really want to get down to Dublin.

"A few years ago, we hosted the Ballyboden team in the Feile, and this year we are hoping to get down to Dublin to see them again. We are aiming to raise enough to make a full day out of the trip and take the boys to Funtasia Waterpark in Drogheda – they really deserve it for all the hard work they have put in.”

If you would like to donate to the cause, contact Nicholas on 0792 6481 934.

ONCE a common sight on farmland across Ireland but now a threatened species, curlews are are thriving in the Antrim Hills thanks to the hard work of landowners, new figures from RSPB Northern Ireland have revealed.

Since early spring, two staff from the conservation charity have been surveying more than 32 kilometres squared of habitat across Glenwherry – the most intensive and comprehensive monitoring ever carried out in the area.

Curlews are red-listed (of highest conservation concern) in Ireland so to have 46 pairs recorded in the Antrim Hills this year is cause for celebration.

This is the first year of a new RSPB project designed to boost curlew numbers. In Glenwherry, the work will involve habitat management including rush control, scrub removal and additional grazing, as well as predator control of species known to impact on curlew breeding success, such as hooded crows.

Participating farmers will receive management advice throughout the year from an RSPB advisor.