Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I greatly welcome this morning the announced expansion of Ballycroy National Park to include the wild Nephin area. This is a longstanding collaborative project between Coillte and the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and will now provide for more than 15,000 ha of national parkland, making this one of the largest national parks in the country and a prime destination in which to experience nature in a pristine and wild landscape. Ballycroy is now even larger than our premier national park in Killarney. It will provide a crucial link from the Great Western Greenway heading north into Bangor Erris and Ballycastle, and will be a very important tourist hub. I also understand that new access routes will be developed and a public amenity plan put in place. This is a huge asset gain for the country and we can help to provide for and populate part of it with the native species of Kerry red deer. This too, I think, would be important. There are plans to curb the sika deer-----