Donal Hickey: Red squirrel sighting comes with sense of irony

Is the pine marten balancing out Ireland's squirrel population?

Some years ago, there were fears the grey squirrel would lead to the extinction of the red which disappeared from many areas of the country colonised by the invader.

A sighting of a native red squirrel might be no big deal. Except in this case it comes with a welcome sense of irony.

A regular reader, Damien Maguire, of Maynooth, Co Kildare, reports seeing such a squirrel recently in Co Longford, the county in which the invasive American grey squirrel was introduced to Ireland in 1911.