Gearóid Ó Muilleoir, pen name Dúlra, is a wildlife buff who was brought up on the slopes of Belfast’s Black Mountain where he spent almost every waking moment hillwalking, birdwatching and fishing.
He’s witnessed massive changes in the local environment, with fields disappearing and nature retreating. “When I was young we had corncrakes breeding in the heart of west Belfast and a barn owl used to swoop down over the street as we played in the evening," he says.
“All that’s gone - but the one thing that has given me heart is the rewilding movement. Nature just needs to be given the space to do its thing without human interference and it can return from the brink.”
Gearóid has spent a lifetime in journalism, working with all the main newspapers here and he’s now production editor of the Sunday World. Outside of the environment, his other passion is the Irish language and he’s a regular on award-winning Belfast station Raidió Failte.
IT was the best story – the most shocking story – that Dúlra never wrote. It was decades ago, but even back then this nature story would have made the front page of every national paper in Ireland.
IT’S a wonder of the world – and it can be seen every evening for free in Belfast city centre.
FOR most organisations, an Aisling Award is the pinnacle of achievement. But for Aidan Crean and the nature buffs at Mullaghglass Wetlands Project overlooking West Belfast, the gong they won last year was a springboard to do even more to save our vanishing biodiversity. Being named Environment champions at a gala dinner in the Europa was the affirmation and encouragement they needed to drive them to even greater things.
SUNFLOWER hearts have extraordinary qualities. They are like manna from heaven for our feathered friends.
DÚLRA doesn’t make many home visits, but he made an exception for Pat Rice. The octogenarian former school teacher/politician noted linguist was given bird feeders as a Christmas present by his son and wanted some advice on how best to put them up.
HISTORY is alive on the Montalto Estate in County Down in the shape of the thousands of trees that grow on its 400 acres. The estate’s guardians don’t shy away from a tumultuous past, rather they embrace it.
SOME people think fairies don’t exist – but Dúlra can confirm that they are alive and well on the Belfast Hills. And here’s the photographic proof.
DÚLRA has a dream: to buy a slither of land on the outskirts of West Belfast and give it away – to nature, the original owner.
READER Ivan Cullen was about to tuck into his breakfast last week when he got a cracking surprise.
THE Antrim coast in the depths of winter is heaven and hell for birds at the same time.Dúlra loves to take a trip up there at this time of year. You don’t have to go off the beaten track or even wear boots. You can just visit any of the coastal villages here and take a dander along the seafront. You’ll see birds just feet away that twitchers normally only spot through mega-bucks binoculars.
IT’S a nature buff’s dream. A whole building stuffed with every creature that ever walked or flew above this wonderful country – and many more besides.
THE Belfast starlings are coming home to roost.
WHEN he recently noticed many of the thousands of newly planted trees in the new Glas-na-Bradan forest on the Belfast Hills pulled up and broken, Woodland Trust director Ian McCurley was left scratching his head.
FOR Jo Montague and her three kids, it was the perfect break. She just loves outdoor swimming – the colder the water the better. So getting a camper van to stay on the shores of Lough Neagh, just 10 minutes from their home in Stewartstown, Co Tyrone, was like a dream holiday.
WE’RE on the cusp of a whole new era in West Belfast, where the beautiful barn owl will once more be a resident.