A parrot keeper is blaming Irish megastar Conor McGregor for the death of his prized £1,300 parakeet.
David Dunne, a 37-year-old living in Drimnagh, Dublin has a collection of at least 30 exotic birds, some of them on the endangered species list. In an interview with The Sun, Dunne revealed that the “peace and tranquility” of his prized birds has been shattered after McGregor’s property company broke ground nearby, creating a noisy environment that has affected the avians’ way of life.
Dunne also revealed that his lutino conure parakeet suffered a heart attack after test drilling at the site close to his home began.
“It really stressed all my birds out,” Dunne said. “Some of them started plucking their feathers out due to stress. So I had to do something.”
Dunne says that he contacted the company and was advised that they would compensate him for the loss of his bird, but thus far, they have done nothing of the sort.
“I rang and told McGregor’s company about it,” Dunn added. “They came around and saw the bird dead and said, ‘Sorry, sorry about that, we’ll do something, we’ll do something.’ I rang about it again and they said they would replace the bird. They said they would compensate for the loss of the bird and they didn’t. When push came to shove, they basically didn’t do anything.”
Dunne says he made an agreement with the company, noting that they would help move the birds to a location away from the site in Drimnagh. However, he was left “angry” when the company later turned around and only offered him the cost of a van rental.
“I had to take all my aviaries down and move all the birds out all on my own, he said. “I have big exotic birds. Some of those birds are on the protected species list and all. I feel like they just disregarded me and my birds. We went to so many meetings and they said they would look after the birds. But as soon as they broke the concrete, they didn’t care.
He added, “Relocating the birds is costing me money that I shouldn’t need to spend. I have to do a full day’s work as a driver, come home, get the food for the parrots, drive to Wicklow and feed the parrots. It is taking time away from me and my family as well.”
The building site in Drimnagh has permissions for a nine-story, 188 build-to-rent apartment scheme that McGregor has purchased. Preliminary work is now underway on the site which has left residents frustrated. A number of them have already lodged objections to a multimillion-euro plan by Conor McGregor’s firm to build an eight-story, 113-unit apartment block adjacent to the site.
