Deerhunters should ask questions first

IN HIS column headlined ‘Government may allow open shooting season on red deer’ (Irish Examiner, May 23), Donal Hickey suggested that deer cause car accidents and damage farms and golf courses.

I would urge a note of caution. I made a short film on deer for the Galway Film Fleadh. There were buckets of anecdotal evidence - all entertaining and uncheckable.

Specifically, the car insurance industry data does not corroborate the story locally. And internationally, the web has no hard data. Donal Hickey’s column, which was very good, relied on farming and civil service sources.

Worldwide, farmers divide the animal kingdom thus: profitable (cows) and things they can shoot either for fun (game) or as a nuisance (vermin).

The farming voice is clear; the civil service, muted; the legal position vague. Some civil servants tell me drivers can be charged for collisions with Phoenix Park deer, the deer being the royal venison. Hmm.

The truth is elusive, but the search for it is enjoyable.

Dominic O’Neill

368 Lower Kimmage Road

Dublin 6W