Engineers to carry out safety review after East Cork motorists report 'near misses' with deer

Councillor says  warning signs are needed to alert those not familiar with areas of potential danger

Motorists driving on rural roads just north of Killeagh have recently reported hitting deer.

Engineers are to carry out a safety review amid concerns about a rising deer population in East Cork presenting a danger to motorists, with several "near misses" reported.

Motorists driving on rural roads just north of Killeagh have recently reported hitting deer.

Meanwhile, a senior Cork County Council engineer revealed that there had been an incident with a deer on the N25 main Cork to Waterford road near Midleton, in what is believed to be the first such report.

While other parts of the county, especially in mid and northwest Cork, have seen an explosion in deer numbers, it hasn’t become a problem in East Cork until now.

In recent years there has been a noticeable increase in the deer population in mid Cork, especially around the Macroom and Ballyvourney areas.

It's believed it was as a result of some escaping from the National Park in Killarney.

They have been regularly seen on the Macroom bypass since it opened and some have been hit by vehicles.

A number of incidents have been recorded in parts of rural north-west Cork which do not traditionally have much of a deer population.

The influx was blamed on the Killarney deer migrating and the possibility of some escaping from the now closed Millstreet Country Park.

However, in East Cork the deer population had until recently been very low and mainly confined to some forests between Youghal and Tallow, Co Waterford.

The issue was raised at a meeting of the East Cork Municipal District Council by Fine Gael councillor Rory Cocking.

He said he had been contacted by a number of constituents about the increased danger and listed a number of roads north of Killeagh where he asked for warning signs to be erected.

“Quite a number of people told they have had near misses, or slight tips with deer,” he said.

Mr Cocking added that while locals are aware of the situation, warning signs are needed to alert those not familiar with the area of the potential danger.

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Fianna Fáil councillor Ann Marie Ahern said she’d also been contacted by some motorists who’d had deer jumping out onto the road in front of them.

Senior executive engineer Dave Clarke said the council normally removes deer from roads which have been killed by vehicles.

He said they know the deer population is increasing in the East Cork region and worryingly they had an incident with one on the busy N25 just before Christmas.

Mr Clarke said the council will carry out a survey and asked the public contact them if they come across incidents in the region.

In the meantime, he said they’d put up warning signs in areas where they pose a known risk.