Liam Nolan of the Deer Alliance has been appointed to the Irish Deer Management Forum, a new body established by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. Establishment of the Forum follows almost four years of development stimulated in part by a National Conference convened in April 2011 by the different deer organisations including the Irish Deer Society and the Wild Deer Association of Ireland. That Conference was followed by two rounds of public consultation initiated by the Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine in conjunction with the National Parks & Wildlife Service and Coillte Teoranta. In the course of public consultation a wide variety of stakeholders, including the Deer Alliance, made important contributions, many of which will now feed into the creation of a national deer management strategy. A Draft Action Plan, based on six specific Strategic Principles and a set of five specific Work Packages, will now form the basis for further development of a long-term national deer management strategy encompassing all stakeholder interests, including the interests of hunters, farmers and foresters.

Liam Nolan is a former National Chairman and President of the Irish Deer Society and has spearheaded the Deer Alliance Hunter Competence Assessment Programme (HCAP) since it was introduced in 2005 following four years of development.