Frank McNamara

That's correct, Clare.

Yeah, yeah.

In Dun Laoghaire, which is a coastal town, the seagull population has shot up in recent years.

We have lots of nice benches on the waterfront for people having a sandwich, drinking a cup of coffee, eating a pastry.

And the seagulls come up to them, grab it out of their hands and they rip open bins.

So it's a real problem in Dun Laoghaire.

I have, Clare, yeah, I have.

Me and my friends were having a sandwich and a seagull came up behind me and then just grabbed out of my hand.

So that's where the idea came from.

The whole sandwich.

For me to bring emotion forward.

They did, yeah, they got, they did, yeah, the whole thing.

I mean, sure, it's unedible then, like it's ripped off, it's on the ground.

I know, yeah.

And then a bunch of them are jumping on it like, you know, you can't, it's game over really, Clare.

Like, I'm not going to eat like, whatever, a wrap that's been ripped by seagulls.

So, well, I used to live in America, Clare, and...

I live in Chicago and they had a real problem with rats in the city while I was living there.

And the mayor of Chicago brought in this idea of releasing cats in certain areas of the city to bring down the rat population.

So many years later, I'm a county councillor in Dun Laoghaire and I thought to myself, why don't we bring in a hawkerie and have birds of prey go on patrol around the town during peak times?