Curlews face bleak future

THE mournful call of the curlew resonates with the Irish psyche, a reminder of ancient tragedies, the great famine or the emigrant ship.

During the reign of the Celtic Tiger melancholy was out of fashion and the cry was at odds with the times. Alas, not any more.

Prospects are bleak for people and for the bird. Curlew numbers are falling and, according to Niall Hatch of BirdWatch Ireland, this wader may cease to breed here within a decade. A Cry of the Curlew Appeal has been launched to raise funds to save it.