Take the pressures off Killarney National Park — and expand it

Ecologist Pádraic Fogarty says it would not take much to tip the balance in favour of nature here... and we’ve already waited too long

Killarney National Park: a view over Muckross Lake. Pictures: Pádraic Fogarty

Killarney National Park in autumn sunshine, as light filters through the boughs of ancient oaks and the roar of rutting red deer stags echoes through the valleys, has a magical, even primeval feel.

Yet, the Park has been at the centre of controversy in recent decades, with questions posed about its management and the status of its most important habitats, particularly the old oakwoods. In October, I spent a few days in and around the Park and was fortunate to have been guided for some of this by senior staff from the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), the state agency that is charged with its care.