Sir, – I read with interest the article indicating that the Kerry slug might need to be lifted and relocated, by hand, as it faces "noise disturbance" ("Kerry slug faces 'unmitigated disturbance' from greenway, hearing told", News, October 10th). Under a conventional compulsory purchase order (CPO), humans do not enjoy this privilege.
Apparently, this slug has been protected under the EU Habitats directive and the Irish Wildlife Act, and in these circumstances, one must presume that “slug pellets” are not available in Kerry, and that it is illegal to set a bowl in your garden containing alcohol, to catch slugs and snails, which we always did when I was a child.
As a nation, we have allowed snails to delay the Kildare bypass at massive expense, we have allowed limestone and bog-cotton to delay and alter the Galway City outer bypass, and we have allowed numerous other schemes to be delayed and deferred for a failure to comply with the habitats directives.
All the while, humans have their property in limbo due to a pending CPO and have to deal with the anguish and uncertainty of having a CPO on their property for upwards of 20 years.
Can humans not be considered in the same terms as slugs, snails, swans, bog-cotton and limestone, and be afforded the same protections under the habitats directive that the slugs, et al, enjoy? – Yours, etc,
CIARÁN SUDWAY,
Dublin 2.