Latest news with #MichaelKeegan
Irish Examiner
6 days ago
- General
- Irish Examiner
Fifteen wild deer 'hotspots' set to receive management units to control populations
To control wild deer populations, 15 dedicated Deer Management Units across the country have been established. Deer management will be implemented in each of the 15 hotspots to bring the wild deer population down to a sustainable level. A contract to implement and deliver several recommendations from the Deer Management Strategy Group was awarded to FRS Co-Op in February of this year, which has now appointed local coordinators to lead the 15 units. They cover areas of the country with well-known hotspots for wild deer. The Deer Management Strategy was developed in 2023 and included a range of recommendations for the ongoing management of Ireland's wild deer population to ensure it is maintained at a sustainable level. The strategy was overseen and developed by a steering group that included representatives from the Department of Agriculture, National Parks and Wildlife Service, Coillte, farmer representatives and other key stakeholders. The coordinators appointed by FRS Co-Op will work with landowners and licensed hunters within these areas. The co-op will not directly employ any hunters as part of its contract, but will oversee the coordination with local hunters and hunting groups who wish to participate in the deer management programme. The locally based coordinators for each Deer Management Unit will be engaging with farmers and landowners to identify issues relating to deer that currently exist and help facilitate deer management for the area by engaging with local hunters. Deer management units map These units aim to control wild deer populations to a sustainable level to help protect Ireland's natural environment, improve biodiversity in our woodlands and other habitats, protect farmland, and contribute to improving human safety by reducing the number of road traffic accidents involving deer. For the past number of decades, Ireland's wild deer population has increased significantly to the point where there is no accurate data on the exact deer population in the country at present. Although there is no specific data, there has been clear evidence of the growth of wild deer populations due to increased incidences of negative impacts as a result of deer populations, such as biodiversity loss, damage to natural woodlands and farmland, and increased road accidents involving deer. FRS Co-Op has established the Deer Management Units based on the available data, such as native woodland monitoring, commercial forest inventories, and road traffic accidents as a result of deer activity. A survey conducted as part of the final Deer Management Strategy report found more than 80% of stakeholders identified biodiversity loss, damage to farmland and road traffic safety as either 'very' or 'somewhat important' issues relating to the growth in the national deer population. Speaking on the announcement, manager of FRS Co-Op's deer management programme Michael Keegan said: 'I would urge landowners in deer hotspots to join a local deer management group or look to establish a deer management group for your area if one does not currently exist. FRS Co-Op is available to assist landowners seeking to establish local deer management groups.' Read More Kerry council to roll out pilot scheme to detect deer on roads in bid to prevent accidents
Irish Times
15-06-2025
- Science
- Irish Times
Bus seat theories
Bus seat theories Sir, – I took a bus recently and noticed that all the double seats upstairs were occupied by a single passenger, each existing happily in their own little orbitals. It brought me right back to Leaving Cert Chemistry, 1974: Hund's Rule of Maximum Multiplicity, the Bus Seat Rule. I had never seen it in practice before but knew that information would come in handy some day. With the Leaving Certificate chemistry examination tomorrow, maybe it's a sign. – Yours, etc, READ MORE MICHAEL KEEGAN, Co Dublin.
Irish Times
14-06-2025
- Science
- Irish Times
Eye on Nature: ‘An alderfly is usually found resting in large numbers on waterside vegetation'
Have you any idea what this insect might be? I found it basking on a metal fence by the banks of the Lagan. – Paul Aiken, Belfast This is an alderfly, which is usually found resting in large numbers on waterside vegetation or flying, rather weakly, on sunny days at the end of spring. This is Sialis lutaria, the larger of our two alderfly species. After mating, females will lay eggs on the foliage of plants growing in the water. Upon hatching, the larvae fall into the water, where they feed voraciously on other small creatures in the mud. They leave the water after a year and pupate in cells in the nearby soil, from whence the adults come. I found this on the seawall at Booterstown. It was only 2in from tip of bill to tip of tail. I initially thought it was only resting but, on closer inspection, it was very much demised. What is it? – Michael Keegan, Dublin Dreoilín (wren), supplied by Michael Keegan This is a poor dead dreoilín – a wren – our second smallest bird. It is exceedingly common: there are an estimated six million-plus of them in the country. They are rarely seen as they don't come to bird tables, but their loud song with the 200 notes per second thrill at the end – is one of the highlights of the dawn chorus. Males build several dome-shaped nests; when the female is installed in the one of her choice, laying and incubating eggs, he is not above taking a second partner to one of the other unoccupied portions of real estate. READ MORE Nature fights back! Spotted recently on my car, a seedling sprouting from behind a plastic panel to the rear of the front wheel. – Nigel Burgess, Dublin [ Hare golf coursing: a mother and leverets up close in Carlow Opens in new window ] Sycamore tree seedling, supplied by Nigel Burgess This is a seedling of a sycamore tree. The 'helicopter' seedlings are carried everywhere by the wind and will germinate if they land on the smallest bit of soil. They are not native and can become quite invasive, as any inspection of an untended back garden will reveal after a few years. This one is on a hiding to nothing, however, so you needn't worry that your car will come to resemble 'Birnam's Woods removing to Dunsinane'. This guy was hiding on my windowsill. What type of moth is it? – Katrina Collins, Cork Hebrew character moth, supplied by Katrina Collins This moth is called a Hebrew character because of the distinctive black mark on each forewing, which is said to resemble a Hebrew letter. It holds its wings tent-wise while at rest. It flies in late spring and the females lay their eggs on the leaves of various trees and shrubs, as the caterpillars are not too specific in their food requirements. These then pupate in the soil and pass the winter as pupae before emerging as adults the following year. Having lifted a mooring from the seabed, we discovered some sea creatures. We think the little fish is a lumpsucker and would love to know more. The creatures were all safely returned to the sea after the photo shoot. – Laurence Bree, Dublin [ What is this species of bee that arrived during no-mow May? Opens in new window ] Lumpsucker, supplied by Laurence Bree It is indeed a lumpsucker, also known as a sea hen. It is so-called because its body is covered with lumps and fleshy knobs. It has no scales and its skin feels leathery. It has a modified pelvic fin that acts as a suction disc and allows it to attach itself to objects such as rocks, pieces of kelp or, as in this case, a mooring. Females will deposit a spongy mass of eggs into a nest made by the male on the sea floor. She then departs, leaving himself to defend the nest and mind the eggs having fertilised them. Please submit your nature query, observation, or photograph, with a location, via or by email to weekend@
Irish Times
30-05-2025
- General
- Irish Times
Happy with your husband?
Sir,– Eighty-four per cent of women change their names on marriage (Letters, 30th May ). I wonder how many then try to change their husbands and, failing that, how many change their husbands? – Yours, etc, MICHAEL KEEGAN, Booterstown, READ MORE Co Dublin.
BBC News
06-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Post Office: Press watchdog revises ruling against ex-Fujitsu CEO
Post Office: Press watchdog revises ruling against ex-Fujitsu CEO Michael Keegan was chief executive of Fujitsu UK from May 2014 to June 2015 A separate part of the complaint remains upheld for which the newspaper published a correction three years ago. It is the first time the watchdog has revisited one of its published findings on the basis of new information. The Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) now says the Sunday Times had not been misleading when it reported that Michael Keegan had been "central" to Fujitsu's dealings with the Post Office, reversing a ruling it made in 2022. A press complaint by a former Fujitsu CEO about his role in the Post Office scandal has been partly overturned by the industry watchdog following new information uncovered by a BBC investigation. Paula Vennells was chief executive of the Post Office from 2012 to 2019 Ipso said Mr Keegan told it, as part of its original investigation in 2022, that he had only met former Post Office chief Paula Vennells once and "that he had no ongoing relationship with her; and that he did not discuss or give her any assurances regarding Horizon's capabilities". But last year BBC News revealed Mr Keegan had in fact had four meetings with her during his 13 months heading up Fujitsu UK from May 2014 to June 2015. Two of these were face-to-face meetings and the other two were telephone calls, one of which concerned a BBC Panorama investigation into the scandal. Mr Keegan now accepts the new information shows he met Ms Vennells more than once. But he told Ipso the number of times he met or spoke to her was "immaterial" to his complaint and that he had not played a "central role", as reported by the Sunday Times. Ipso's Complaints Committee was not persuaded and found that the newspaper had not been "inaccurate" or "misleading" when it said Mr Keegan had played a "central role" or been "central" to Fujitsu's dealings with the Post Office during his time in charge. Part of the dispute about the Sunday Times' reporting centred around comments by Ms Vennells that the Horizon IT system used by the Post Office was like "Fort Knox", a quote she attributed to an ex-CEO of contractor Fujitsu. The Post Office has previously tried to argue that branch accounts could only be changed by sub-postmasters. It has since emerged that they could be accessed remotely. The Sunday Times identified Mr Keegan as the source of the quote, but acknowledged it was mistaken when IPSO first investigated in 2022. Between 1999 and 2015, more than 900 sub-postmasters were wrongly prosecuted after the faulty Horizon software made it look like money was missing from Post Office branch accounts. Mr Keegan told BBC News: "Any judgement about the Horizon scandal should await the findings of the inquiry. "The fact I had one additional meeting with the CEO of the Post Office on an entirely unrelated matter, some 11 years ago, does not in my view call into question the original decision Ipso reached. I am pleased that Ipso upheld its original decision in relation to the inaccuracy of the earlier article in The Sunday Times". Last year lawyers for Mr Keegan said he regrets that sub-postmasters were prosecuted unfairly and denied playing any part in it. A spokesperson for Ipso declined to comment.
