North Cork RVO to open at new location on Monday

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine's regional veterinary office (RVO) for north Co. Cork is closing at its current location today (Thursday, March 27).

The office will reopen at its new address on Monday (March 31), the department has said.

The current address of the office is Hibernian House, 80A South Mall, Cork city, south of the River Lee and close to the city centre.

The new address will be Revenue House, Assumption Road, Blackpool, Cork city.

This new address is to the north of the River Lee and further from the city centre. It is just off the N20 road.

The department has said that the new office's opening hours, as well as its phone number, will remain unchanged.

While the north Cork RVO is about to move into new facilities, the Cork regional veterinary laboratory (RVL) is also awaiting a switch to more modern surrounds.

In October, then Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue said that work was underway to redevelop “outdated” regional veterinary laboratory facilities.

A large new specialist laboratory centre is planned for a new site in north Cork which will replace the current facilities in Cork and Limerick, with the services for both counties effectively being amalgamated.

This is part of a wider plan that includes replacement laboratory facilities at current sites in Kilkenny and Sligo, along with an enhanced facility in Athlone.

The redevelopment of Sligo RVL is set to be accompanied by a new forensic veterinary pathology service that will be provided at that RVL, to assist in the investigation of wildlife crime, and which will be introduced on a phased, case-by-case basis.

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The department confirmed this week that its Veterinary Laboratory Service is in “advanced discussions” with the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), which is interested in supporting the development of a small-scale specialised forensic veterinary service.

The planned development is part of a revision of a protocol between the NPWS, the department, and the State Laboratory. The protocol is called ‘Recording and Addressing Persecution and Threats to Our Raptors’ (RAPTOR), which is the basis for collaborative investigation of the cause of mortality in wild birds of prey in Ireland.

It is envisaged that the service will be made available to NPWS officials, the department's own enforcement officers, and An Garda Síochána, which has occasional requirements for such a service when investigating suspicious animal deaths.

The start date of this new service has not been agreed yet, and it is likely that it will see a phased introduction on a case-by-case basis as the required skills, training and equipment are developed, procured and rolled-out.

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