Fears growing in west Cork of deer-related traffic fatalities as ‘they're popping up everywhere now’
CorkmanDeer coming out onto the roads in West Cork are posing a serious threat to motorists with two vehicles written off in recent months after collisions with the animals amid fears there could be a fatality if the problem isn’t tackled, local councillors have said.
Bantry Councillor Danny Collins brought a motion before this week’s meeting of the West Cork Municipal District calling on Cork County Council to put up more signage to warn motorists in areas known to pose a higher risk of road incursions.
“Two different people came to me recently, one wrote off their car, another a van. And basically it was in the same area where we have deer congregating. You can see them there at least once or twice weekly and they are doing a lot of damage out there and it's devastating. There's no insurance cover really for that, I believe. One lady rang me and she said ‘Danny, is there anything that can be done?’” he said.
Cllr Collins said that he travels along Snave Bridge on the N71 between Bantry and Glengarriff every week and often sees “six or eight” deer on the side of the road. “There has yet to be an accident there but there could be with cars coming from Castletownbere at speed. Hopefully something will be done because I'm afraid there will be a death sometime with these deer, they’re popping up everywhere and anywhere now.”
His fellow councillors mentioned other West Cork locations where deer are congregating including Schull, Glengarriff, Clonakilty and Skibbereen.
“Councillor Collins is 100pc correct, there are many hotspots. Glengarriff is another one of them. I suppose for the likes of Councillor Collins and myself we kind of know the places because we drive there regularly but I think the danger is when people come into the area and they're not sure and they're driving along and these deer jump out,” said Cllr Finbarr Harrington.
“It's a bad accident waiting to happen because aside from the damage they do to the car, if one of them mounts the bonnet of a car and comes through the window, somebody could be fatally hurt or injured. So if we could put a few signs in the real bad hotspots, it would be a help,” the Beara councillor said.
Cllr Daniel Sexton said that signage can alert motorists to slow down but “the deer aren’t going to stay inside the signs, they’re wild and they’re going to run where they want. They could come out at any stage, they'll just run straight out in front of you, they don't care and the amount of damage they do is going into thousands. I think we really need to be planning for the future because they are everywhere at the moment. There's a lot of them coming into Clonakilty and up as far as Rossmore.”
Cork County Council engineer John Ahern responded that the council is engaging with the National Parks & Wildlife Service (NPWS) on deer migration and movement patterns.
“Suitable signage can be erected at known locations where deer are known to be present on a regular basis. Cork County Council will review each case on an individual basis. However, it will not be possible to provide signage at every area of concern,” he said.
Cllr Isobel Towse suggested writing to the Irish Deer Management Strategy Group (IDMSG) “to get an update on where they're at and what their plans are. They're supposed to be managing the culling and sustainable management of the deer population. The deer are still increasing so I think we need to know what they [the group] are actually doing.”
The IDMSG was set up in 2022 with representatives from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, NPWS and Coillte to develop initiatives to ensure sustainable deer numbers while safeguarding biodiversity, forestry, agriculture and road safety.