The Department of Agriculture was last night awaiting the results of precautionary tests carried out on eight dead seagulls removed from the sea off Co Cork on Sunday. A spokesman for the department said it did not believe there was any cause for concern.
The birds were recovered at Ring, near Clonakilty, by veterinary officials on Sunday afternoon. They had been alerted by gardaí.
A ninth dead seagull was found in the area when a follow-up search was carried out yesterday morning. There was a suggestion that the birds could have died as a result of gorging.
Meanwhile, a dead swan was removed from the Co Limerick farm of former Irish Farmers' Association president John Dillon yesterday.
Veterinary officials have given precautionary tests to hundreds of dead birds across the State in recent months.