Visit the link below to see the Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform’s statement.
Welcome to National ParksRead The Statement Here
If you have any questions or queries regarding the National Parks, please send them to the most relevant email address listed here.
Ireland’s National Parks are managed by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. To find out more about the Department, please click the link below.
natureconservation@housing.gov.ie
If you are not sure to which email address your query should be sent, please email it to the below address and we will forward it to the appropriate office.
The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is the Government Department responsible for housing and water, for physical and spatial planning, for local government, for weather forecasting and for built and natural heritage.
The Department is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This privacy statement explains how the Department, as the Data Controller, will process the personal data provided to it in respect of the nationalparks.ie website; how that information will be used, and what rights you may exercise in relation to your personal data.
The Department processes the following personal data in respect of providing you with the service. We collect data in the following ways:
Your personal data was provided to the Department solely by you and your computer for the purposes outlined below.
Your IP address is used to facilitate the transmission of information to your computer. In and of itself cannot be used to uniquely identify you. Your IP address is stored via the host software and/or applications running on that software typically in logging functions to facilitate error tracing and identify security issues.
Your browser type and device type and other non-personally identifiable information (analytical data) are used to help facilitate decision making on how we can improve our services to you.
The Department will use the information provided in order to provide the information you have requested on this site. The Department will not process your personal data for any purpose other than that for which it was collected. The Department reserves the right to combine non personally-identifiable information to form information that could be used to as specified in “Lawfulness of Processing”.
The Department will not use any personal data collected from you in respect of nationalparks.ie for automated decision-making, or for profiling purposes.
The processing of your personal data is lawful under Article 6 Paragraph 1(a), nationalparks.ie only collects personally identifiable information with your explicit consent. Explicit consent is given when accepting specific cookie categories or filling a form with information you volunteer.
The processing of your personal data is lawful under Article 6 Paragraph 1(d), nationalparks.ie only collects personally identifiable and non-personally identifiable information where processing is necessary in order to protect the vital interests of the data subject or of another natural person.
The Department implements appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your information from unauthorised access. However, despite these efforts, no security measures are perfect or impenetrable, and no method of data transmission can be guaranteed against any interception or other type of misuse. In the event that your personal data is compromised as a result of a breach of security, the Department’s Breach Management policy and procedures will be implemented.
Personal data may be exchanged with other Government Departments, local authorities, agencies under the aegis of the Department, or other public bodies, in certain circumstances where this is provided for by law.
The Department will not transfer personal data collected in respect of nationalparks.ie to any country or international organisation outside the EU/EEA.
The Department will only retain your personal data for as long as it is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected and processed.
In line with legislative and business requirements, the data retention period for your personal data, in this instance, is in line with broader Departmental Policy.
The Department's Data Protection Policy, which sets out how we will use your personal data, as well as providing information regarding your rights as a data subject (including details regarding right of access, right to rectification, right to erasure, right to restriction of processing, right to object), is available on our website. The policy is also available in hard copy upon request. If you consider that your rights have been infringed, you have the right to complain to the Irish Data Protection Commission (dataprotection.ie), and you have the right to seek a judicial remedy.
If you require further information, or wish to access your personal data, please contact the Department’s Data Protection Officer, details below:
Data Protection Officer Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage Newtown Road Wexford data.protection@housing.gov.ie
Document Dated: 15 July 2021
The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is the Government Department responsible for housing and water, for physical and spatial planning, for local government, for weather forecasting and for built and natural heritage.
The Department is committed to ensuring access for all. This accessibility statement explains how the Department, as the Service Provider, will endeavour to meet the requirements as set out in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Version 2.1 at AA Level as defined by the Web Accessibility Initiative.
The Department is committed to:
The Department uses a range of techniques to help providing access for all. They include:
| Accessibility Testing | |
| Approach | Reasoning |
| Automated Scanning | Automated scanning provides a quick (but not complete) overview if issues that persons may encounter |
| Guidance | Provision of guidance to content editors such as using Alternate Text |
| Manual Review | Regularly performing manual review of each site and adjusting the site to help improve accessibility |
The website currently has a partial conformance to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1. Our most recent web accessibility audit for this website was on 10/06/2021.
We are aware of some areas on the website where we could improve accessibility. We are currently working to achieve this. We hope that this website will achieve "Level AA" conformance to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 by December 2021.
| Areas for improvement, time-lines for improvement, and alternatives | |||
| Section of website | Need for improvement | Time-line for improvement | Alternative access |
| Site Wide | Continual Checking | We are continually striving to improve accessibility with this new site. | If you have problems using any section of the website, call us on 01 888 3200 and ask to speak to National Parks |
We welcome feedback on the accessibility of this website.
Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, National Parks & Service, Custom House, Dublin 1, D01 W6X0
A large number of techniques are used to enable the site become accessible for all. The process is ongoing as content changes and the structure of the site changes. Some of the accessible features on this site include (but not limited to) the following:
| Accessibility Features | |
| Feature | Purpose |
| Alt Text | All Images where appropriate have suitable Alt text to provide a descriptive element to the image portrayed |
| Heading Outline Hierarchy | Logical sense applied to headings where possible H1, H2, H3 or H1, H3 |
| Descriptive Links | Links and Buttons have descriptive elements or Aria labels where those elements are cannot be provided |
| Contrast | Reasonable minimums in difference with relation to contrast between foreground elements and background elements |
| Navigability | Logical structure applied to the website to ensure the site can be used without a mouse |
| ARIA Landmarks | A large variety of aria- landmarks applied to aid in accessibility |
This list is not exhaustive.
Document Dated: 15 July 2021
Our National Parks and Reserves are the jewels in the crown of Ireland’s natural heritage, part of our national identity, our story, our spirit and our future.
These special places contribute to our sense of awe and wonder, fuel our imaginations, inspire our creativity, benefit our mental and physical wellbeing, and support rural economies through the millions of visitors that travel to experience them every year. They are – and always will be – free for us all to enjoy.
They also contain precious habitats – wild and managed places that are home to thousands of species, where they are protected and conserved.
Each of our Parks is recognisable now by a unique species, one of the many who call it their home:
The Burren – Mountain Avens wildflower
Connemara – The Raven
Glenveagh – The Red-throated Diver
Killarney – Deer
Wicklow – Peregrine Falcon
Wild Nephin – Golden Plover
I’m delighted that, through this new visual identity and online presence, we can now welcome all our visitors with a compelling introduction to these unique and precious sites, an orientation of the parks and all they have to offer, and an awareness of how we all can protect nature by leaving no trace.
I’d like to thank my own Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the National Parks and Wildlife Service for their work in bringing forward this exciting new development, and also acknowledge the help and support of the Department of Rural and Community Development and Failte Ireland. Thanks are also due to Image Now, the service providers, who worked in close collaboration with our teams to realise this vision. You will see the fruits of these partnerships in new signage and more over the coming months and years.
This website is the first opportunity for you to view the new branding. We hope you love it as much as we do, but most of all, we hope you #LoveNature and continue to do so in your visits – both online and in person – to our amazing National Parks and Reserves.
Malcolm Noonan TD
Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform
Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage
