No bats in €200,000 belfry
Special hang-out for rare species is empty
Green Party councillor Brian Meaney pictured outside Clare Co Council's € 200,000 'secret bat house', which remains empty. Photo: Eamon Ward
Wednesday October 28 2009
A specially built €200,000 bat house has failed to attract its intended residents.
The lesser horseshoe bat has decided not to take advantage of Clare Co Council's 'secret bat house' built near the Ennis bypass.
The bat house was built by GAMA Construction four years ago as part of the bypass scheme to conserve the local population of the lesser horseshoe bat.
The bat is extinct throughout much of Europe and is afforded the highest level of EU protection any endangered species can attain.
The house has been kitted out with infrared beams to monitor bat movements and a telephone line has been installed in the house to enable information to be downloaded.
A council spokesman confirmed yesterday that the bat house is not yet occupied by the lesser horseshoe bat, but pointed out that a restored schoolhouse at Knockaneen, 2km away, has.
"The exact location of the bat houses is not made widely known as a precautionary measure to protect the bats," he said.
Asked to put forward any reason or theory why the bats have ignored the secret house, the spokesman said: "There is no definitive reason as to why this is the case.
Sensitive
"However, there is evidence of other bats and some bird species at the unoccupied house and it is considered by the bat experts that this may be deterring the lesser horseshoe bats as they are a shy and sensitive species."
He added: "It is, of course, still very much hoped that lesser horseshoe bats will use the habitat and only time and Mother Nature will tell."
The spokesman pointed out that funding received by the Ennis bypass project from the EU would not have been paid without the two bat houses. He said: "This considerable EU funding utterly depended on the development of these bat houses."
The restored schoolhouse at Knockaneen had shown evidence of previous use by lesser horseshoe bats and is one of the most advanced buildings of its type in Europe.
However, Councillor Brian Meaney of the Green Party called on the council to investigate reasons for the bats' failure to occupy the house.
"This bat house was constructed to a standard we were informed was the most modern in Europe -- the only problem is the local bat population was not informed.
"It is not acceptable that measures that were provided at significant cost to preserve the local population were not successful. It is necessary now to see what the real impact on the bat population has been, as this measure has failed," he added.
- Gordon Deegan
Irish Independent
