Government shells the cash to chase the elusive butterfly

The Government is to spend thousands of Euros to survey sites in County Galway for a rare breed of butterfly – to comply with European laws.

The Department of Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht this week sought public tenders to carry out surveillance of sites in Galway, Roscommon and Mayo to find out if a rare breed of butterfly is living locally.

The department is seeking to determine possible Marsh Fritillary  (also known as Euphydras aurinia) sites in Galway and the West.

A similar tender was sought for counties Clare, Kerry and Limerick.  The butterfly, apparently, is dying out.

It is part of a national monitoring programme for this species between the National Biodiversity Data Centre and the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), which comes under the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

See full story in this week’s new-look compact Connacht Tribune.