Farmers in Co Kerry are objecting to reintroducing the giant sea eagle in the southwest, warning that it will threaten young lambs, be of little benefit to tourism, be "no second Fungi" and generally inspire fear among ordinary people.
The Irish Farmers' Association in Kerry are writing to the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) outlining their opposition to the reintroduction of the white-tailed or sea eagle, one of the world's largest birds of prey, in the vicinity of a sheep farming and salmon area. They believe the wildlife service has got it wrong and should concentrate on other species.
It is 100 years since the bird was driven to extinction in the southwest.
The project to bring back the sea eagle to the Killarney National Park is already under way and has been welcomed by Minister for the Environment Dick Roche as of cultural importance and of benefit to tourism and bio-diversity.
It is expected the eagles will breed and spread out to west Cork.
However, John Stack, chairman of the IFA in Kerry, said Kerry farmers were "very upset" and worried that the giant birds with a 2.4-metre wingspan would make off with lambs. The farmers decision to oppose the project was taken after widespread consultation with the National Parks and Wildlife Service. Angry sheep farmers at the county agm this week expressed their fears and "spoke in their droves against it", Mr Stack remarked.
They doubted "this massive bird away up in the clouds" would be of much value to tourism. It was certainly "not going to be a second Fungi" he said referring to the Dingle dolphin.
A study by the Scottish parks and wildlife service into the sea eagle on the Isle of Mull where they had been reintroduced documented how one pair of sea eagles had lifted 35 lambs in one season alone, Mr Stack said.
Some 15 sea eagles are to be introduced into the wild in the Killarney National Park each year over the next five years, beginning this summer.
"Sheep farmers are very upset. If one pair can take 35 lambs, what will several pairs do?" Mr Stack asked.
Sea eagles also fed on mature salmon and it was ironic that these birds of prey were being reintroduced at a time when there were such restrictions on salmon angling and salmon fishing in the southwest, he said.
The sea eagle is the fourth largest bird of prey in the world. There would be far more welcome among farmers for the reintroduction of the Golden Eagle, observed Mr Stack, who has visited Glenveagh National Park where the golden eagle has been reintroduced.
"I think they have got it wrong," he remarked of the sea eagle project.
Kerry farmers' livelihoods were already under threat from land designations for the hen harrier and the chough. They now feared more lands would be designated for the sea eagle "wherever they decided to perch".
"We are being designated out of existence," Mr Stack said of farmers, adding that yet more designations would be a burden on property they could not afford.
However, Eamon Meskell, regional manager for the NPWS said the lambs on the Isle of Mull had been taken by a pair of "rogue eagles".
The project here would be closely monitored by project manager Dr Allan Mee, who had been part of the condor project in California.
The wildlife service was now applying for an import licence to bring the eagles from Norway.