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.
JUST a week after Dúlra hailed the authorities for letting wildflowers flourish under the Balls on the Falls, they were all obliterated.
IT’S just great – grass as thick as a sheep’s coat right in the centre of one of Belfast’s busiest junctions.
WHEN Dúlra’s two girls were young, he decided to take them to one of Belfast’s most famous landmarks, one that they would hopefully never forget – the summit of Cave Hill. They probably can’t remember it now – but Dúlra will never forget it!
THE RSPB’s embracing of the Irish language is certainly worth crowing about.
BY the time Germany scored their fourth goal last Friday night, the sky outside Dúlra’s front window matched Scotland’s mood – dark and foreboding. By 9pm the sun had set, the long June day was approaching its end and so he was almost as stunned as that poor Scottish team when a bird appeared outside, one that had never appeared there before.
IF Dúlra’d had a grand to spare, he would have bought the lot. Because as soon as he set eyes on the shelves full of old Observer books this week, his mind raced back to a time decades ago when he pored over every word in the tiny books, which are a mine of information.
SWIFTS are spectacular birds – perhaps the most spectacular of them all. They have evolved so much that they have all but abandoned land, becoming totally aerodynamic and preferring to spend their whole life on the wing. Except, of course, to breed.And that’s where their problems start, because people have robbed them of their breeding sites. Year after year in Belfast and towns and villages throughout the country, the wall cavities they once nested in have been filled in, while newbuilds aren’t bird-friendly.
WHILE most of us were fast asleep in our beds last Saturday, a small dedicated band of nature activists were working through the night on the Belfast Hills.
IT’S something Dúlra never even thought possible. That a legendary bird of our most extreme habitats – of mountaintops and windswept coastal headlands – could be living and breeding among us in Belfast. And not just any part of Belfast, but, incredibly, on the very citadel of the city, the building at its heart that represents us all.
IF you have a garden – no matter how small – you have a chance to rescue nature.That’s exactly what lifetime wildlife activist Geordie Hynes set out to do, and if the number of breeding birds in his garden this year are anything to go by, he has succeeded.
EVERY morning Dúlra danders around the outside of the house to scatter some seeds for the birds. The dunnock especially keeps an eye out – as soon as Dúlra steps back indoors, this shy bird quietly emerges from the hedges to gobble up some of the energy-rich food.
IT’S the most impressive book Dúlra has ever set eyes on.
THE common starling isn’t used to our admiration.
DÚLRA knows his limits – and this week it was time to admit defeat and call for the expert. Because Dúlra wants to be sure that when some of our most stunning birds arrive back in Belfast after six months in distant lands, they will know where they can find a safe and welcoming home.
OK, a stupid question – but why does a dawn chorus walk have to be so damn early?People are being asked to meet at 5am at the gates of Belfast Castle next month (Saturday May 18) where Black Mountain champion Aaron Kelly will lead the Dawn Chorus Dander on Cave Hill.