Plans for extension to Lough Rusheen swan sanctuary

Plans for an extension to the country’s first swan rehabilitation sanctuary at Lough Rusheen Park have been submitted to city planners.

The Galway and Claddagh Swan Rescue has proposed an extension to the holding pen, a shelter and a shallow pool on the site, which is beside the Galway Bay Complex candidate Special Area of Conservation (cSAC) beside Rusheen Bay.

The extension will measure 4.5 metres by 12 metres and be up to 2.2 metres in height.

The plans have been supported by Stephen Walsh, the City Council’s Parks Superintendent, who said a licence is in place with the rescue group to operate the facility.

According to the application, the extra space will be used for the housing and feeding of swan cygnets until the are old enough – or in the case of injured birds, until they are well enough to fend for themselves – to be released into the wild.

The sanctuary already includes a secure, covered-in area for cygnets at night and a shallow pool for birds to accustom themselves to water.

The voluntary group was set up in February 2001, when an oil spill in the Claddagh Basin damaged 118 swans. Seven volunteers nursed the birds back to health at a building loaned by the Harbour Company.

Since then the seven committee members and helpers of the organisation have been caring for damaged birds in their back gardens and in their homes for the past eight years.

The sanctuary is not just for swans and the organisation rescues, treats and rehabilitates all wetland, woodland, grassland and garden birds. The birds are then released into their own habitat once they are well enough.

A decision on the application is expected in April.

A table quiz aimed at raising funds for the extension will be held in the Commercial Boat Club, Woodquay on Thursday, March 6 at 8pm. Tables of four cost €40.