The proposed route for Irish Rail's new Navan line would slice through Dunsany Estate, home to the largest private rewilding project in Ireland where a multitude of species reside. Take action now to help save Dunsany nature reserve and convince Irish Rail to choose a different route. Please make a submission to Irish Rail before 5pm tomorrow, Friday 17th July 2026.
Randal Plunkett of Dunsany says that the route would destroy the central 192-hectare block, fragmenting the reserve by clearing mature broadleaf woodland and essentially creating a barrier which would affect the free movement of wildlife.
It would also "devastate over a decade's work at the only operating large-scale rewilding project, which is recognised by the European rewilding network" - in that period, there has been a 35 per cent increase in bird population, a doubling of the insect population, the return of the Great Spotted Woodpecker and the return and breeding of the Red Kite. Pine Martens, otters, warblers, hares and sparrowhawks have also been spotted in numbers at the estate.
Email your submission to navan@irishrail.ie
or complete the online consultation form at
Find out more
https://www.irishrail.ie/en-ie/about-us/iarnrod-eireann-projects-and-investments/navan-railway-line
SEE ALSO
The proposed new Navan rail line is going to destroy The Dunsany Nature Reserve - Randal Plunkett
https://www.instagram.com/reels/DaF7Xkxtzeu/
Rail project plans an 'abomination' that will 'destroy' nature reserve warns Dunsany Castle owner
https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/rail-project-plans-an-abomination-that-will-destroy-nature-reserve-warns-dunsany-castle-owner-1905646.html
Action needed to defend Meath wildlife from proposed rail line extension
Letter, Irish Independent, 1 June 2026
The recommendation from the Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss that the rights of nature be enshrined in the Constitution was well received by politicians of all parties at the time, but seems to have been quietly shelved since.
But while nature may not have legal rights of appeal against the downside of human “progress”, we humans do have the power to object when plans are made to ravage what remains of our embattled biodiversity.
We can make a real difference, if we raise our voices for the cause of Ireland’s vanishing flora and fauna. Nature needs our help urgently in a scenic part of Co Meath, where one of the best-run and most transformative rewilding projects in Europe is under threat.
The 650-hectare Dunsany Nature Reserve, with the famed 800-year-old castle overlooking it, is internationally celebrated and immensely popular with the many visitors who call to it every year, lured by the historical milieu and the abundance of wildlife.
On the reserve, great spotted woodpeckers, pine martens, otters, hares, warblers and sparrowhawks all have their places in nature’s “choir” as they sing, whistle or call out in their own unique ways to the world beyond their own little patch of ground, wood, marshland or foliage.
The reserve hosts 13 of the 54 red-listed bird species with special conservation status and eight out of Ireland’s nine protected bat species and the red kite, which had almost disappeared from Ireland, can be found on the Dunsany Reserve, with its ancient broadleaf forestry, marshes, wetlands and meadows.
With Ireland in the throes of a biodiversity crisis, this reserve is a shining example of how to cherish our ecosystems and our irreplaceable wildlife heritage.
How shocking it is then to learn that Iarnród Éireann’s preferred route for the Navan Rail Line Extension would take it right through the Dunsany Nature Reserve, necessitate the clearing of ecological vital woodland and play havoc with the free movement of wildlife. It would be an ecological disaster and a blot, not only on the landscape; but on our country’s reputation.
With public consultation on Iarnród Éireann’s proposal open until July 3, we have an opportunity to speak up for nature and ask the semi-state body to consider alternative routes, such as via Dunshaughlin, Ratoath and Ashbourne, thus avoiding Dunsany and the reserve.
Here is a chance to uphold the Rights of Nature, instead of standing by and allowing a proverbial coach and four to be driven through an acclaimed biodiversity project, a priceless amenity that ought to be treasured – not ripped apart by a rail corridor.
We’ve already lost much of our natural heritage … countless species gone for ever, not to mention the hundreds of acres of woodland and habitat ravaged by gorse fires: an irreplaceable loss.
The Dunsany Nature Reserve doesn’t deserve extinction, to become just another fond memory of what might have been if people cared enough.
John Fitzgerald,
Callan, Co Kilkenny