Gentoo penguin first of its kind born in Ireland

The country’s first gentoo penguin chick has been delivered to his doting parents — making the tiny bundle of fluff the first of its kind to be hatched in Ireland.

The staff in Dingle Oceanworld were all a flutter when the penguin, weighing less than a quarter of a pound, arrived this week at the €1m Antarctic exhibition which mimics the icy conditions at the South Pole.

Penguin couples had paired off and laid eggs every breeding season since 2012 without success, but a chick finally poked his head through the very last egg to hatch out last Wednesday, causing the rest of his colony to scream in excitement.