Kilkenny TD stands up for nature with major announcement

Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan, has announced details of Ireland’s largest ever protected area for birds. 

The new North-West Irish Sea Special Protection Area (SPA) is to be designated under the EU Birds Directive and will cover more than 230,000 hectares of important marine waters for a range of bird species throughout the year. 

It increases the percentage of Ireland’s marine waters which are protected under the EU Birds and Habitats Directives to over 9%. 

The Minister, and local Green Party TD for Carlow-Kilkenny said; 

”I am delighted that we have been able to realise a long-held ambition to extend and significantly improve the protections in place for our marine birds. This site, at more than 230,000 hectares, is the largest SPA designation for birds in Ireland’s history. We are working hard as a Government to ensure we have robust protections in place for nature as we work to deliver on our offshore renewable energy objectives. Biodiversity action and climate action must go hand in hand.”