‘It’s getting worse’ – Drogheda calls public meeting to address seagull problem

Who runs the world? Gulls.

We're all enjoying the summer sunshine and warm weather, but we can't always have it our own way. Summer, of course, brings an influx of people spending time in the outdoors, eating, drinking and enjoying themselves. However, with that comes the notorious seagulls, who descend from the sky in their droves to grab dropped food, scatter litter and seemingly taking pleasure in making people's lives miserable. The seagull issue has gotten so bad in the town of Drogheda in County Louth that a public meeting has been organised to try and figure out how to solve the bird-related problem. Taking place in The d Hotel on Monday June 26, the meeting will try to find a humane solution to the ongoing seagull scourge. Former councillor Frank Godfrey, who is organising the meeting, said: “The seagull problem is going from bad to worse as the year goes on. This summer for some unknown reason there seems to be thousands of them.

"I’ve been talking to a lot of traders and this is a problem that seems to be getting worse as the years go on,” said Mr. Godfrey. “We all know they are noisy, but they are picking rubbish out of bins and making the streets look filthy, not to mention the bird droppings all over the streets and our historical buildings.

[caption id="attachment_113746" align="alignnone" width="2048"] The seagull issue in Drogheda is going from bad to worse. Image via Getty [/caption] Seagulls are a protected species under EU law, however nests and eggs can be destroyed when they pose a threat to public health and safety.

"I’m not saying we harm them in any way, but I know some businesses have installed wild birds calls to chase them off, so maybe we need more of that in the town centre."

A 2021 urban gull survey said that, while Drogheda is 6.5km from the sea, "the mix of active shipping along a large tidal river, extensive urban waterfront and adjacent housing estates has seemingly created an attractive breeding habitat." Header image via Getty  This article originally appeared on joe.ie  READ NEXT:  - Dad faked his own death to teach his family a lesson - The 20 greatest dad jokes ever told, for the weekend that's in it - Calls for outdoor ocean pool to be installed in North Kerry village