Taking flight: 21 sea-eagle chicks released into Munster wild 

The chicks were collected under licence in June from nests throughout the Trondheim area of West-Central Norway by the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research

White-tailed sea-eagles were a conspicuous part of the Irish landscape before being driven to extinction in the 19 and early 20 century by human persecution. 

Twenty one sea-eagle chicks have been released into the wilds of Munster in what has been described as a “milestone moment’ for an Irish-Norwegian re-introduction programme.

The Norwegian-born eagle chicks were set free on the Shannon Estuary, Lough Derg, Waterford and in Killarney National Park by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS).