A Dublin councillor is calling for wild goats to be introduced to Killiney after a devastating gorse fire saw the evacuation of homes and two firefighters injured.
Firefighters were alerted to a huge wildfire in Killiney on Monday evening and, as crews battled the blaze, two firefighters were transported to hospital and treated for minor injuries, and residents were urged to close their windows and doors as thick clouds of smoke covered the area. The incident has been described as Dublin’s worst wildfire this year.
It has led to calls for a new land management plan for the wider Killiney Hill area involving the use of goats, similar to one introduced in Howth last summer. Independent Cllr Hugh Lewis is calling on Dun-Laoghaire Rathdown Council to follow a similar programme. He told Newstalk: "Last Monday there was a very serious fire, it was described by Dublin Fire Brigade as the worst wildfire so far this year.
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“There were up to 10 homes evacuated, the fire actually reached people's back gardens at one stage, and the Air Corp had to assist Dublin Fire Brigade throughout the night and put it out the next morning. So this is a very real and dangerous risk, Killiney is quite unique in that the landscape is in such close proximity to people's homes."
"I watched with great interest the situation developing in Howth and the solution that they proposed, introducing indigenous goats, and I think it's something we should at least look at and hope to emulate here in Killiney." Cllr Lewis that wildfires are an "increasing threat" due to climate change, and that these wildfires can be "devastating for the existing wildlife habitat".
"It's mutually beneficial for the existing there and trying to preserve the indigenous wild Irish goat so we would hope that what has happened in Howth can be emulated," he said. "Obviously there would need to be a massive consultation and consideration on habitat and the ecology, but it potentially looks like a very sustainable solution that needs to be looked at."
Meanwhile, Mayor of Fingal Cllr Howard Mahony said that they previously had a similar issue with wildfires in Howth last July and they decided to contact experts in the UK and Spain. He explained: "What they suggested was the goats as the solution and we were skeptical about it at first, we had concerns around the control of the animals going into people's gardens and eating roses.
"So what we did was we contacted the Old Irish Goat Society and they had a management system that they proposed to us, it's done by a phone app where the goat herder has a map on the app where they want the goats to be contained and the gats where a collar, if they come close to the line they get a beep.
"Once they cross the line they get a very small electric shock. Goats are very intelligent and they learn very quickly not to cross the line. It appears that goats won't eat grass as a preference, they will eat shrubbery and gorse, so they are ideal for maintaining the gorse and acting as a barrier to gorse fires."
Cllr Mahony said that they have had no issues with the goats, and that the gorse is continuing to recover "very well" and that they have had no reports this year of a fire. "There is a chance that it can combust but now there is an adequate fire break to at least protect property," he added.
When asked about goats and dogs out being walked in the area, Cllr Mahony said that the goats are not feral and that they have had no reports of any issues with dogs.
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