The situation with deer getting out of complete control and causing untold damage to people and vehicles when encroaching on to public roads has been highlighted at a meeting of Killarney Municipal District Council.
Cllr John O’Donoghue pinpointed a number of serious incidents and he said nothing is being done to protect motorists from deer wandering on to public roads.
“We might need to get a bit hysterical about this to ensure something happens,” he said.
Cllr O’Donoghue said the situation is now completely out of control and action needs to be taken to ensure the deer are moved to higher ground.
He revealed details of two instances, one which saw a huge stag leaping out in front of a car and narrowly avoiding a catastrophe and a case where over €4,000 worth of damage was caused to a car that was in a collision with a deer, resulting in the driver being out of pocket by that amount.
“If this was a farmer and it was one of his animals that caused the damage then he would have to pay but there is nobody accountable when it’s deer,” Cllr O’Donoghue stated.
He said the situation has been allowed to go on for far too long and it is now a regular problem for motorists driving in Fossa, Muckross and Glenflesk.
Cllr Brendan Cronin said it is now four or five years since the relatives of a person involved in a fatal collision with a deer appealed for action at a deputation to the then council.
“We were told then that there was a plan but nothing has happened. It’s a crazy situation,” he said.
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