A bird enthusiast named David Dunne holds UFC icon Conor McGregor responsible for the tragic demise of his prized parakeet.
Dunne said that after a test drill at a large adjacent construction project supported by the UFC star, his £1,300 parakeet had a heart attack.
David is a resident of Drimnagh, Dublin, and maintains a remarkable collection of 30 exotic birds. The initiation of construction near his home subjected his birds to tremendous stress due to incessant noise from the site, leading to severe consequences.
He said: “Once the works started, it was so noisy. It really stressed all my birds out.”
David said that several of the exotic birds in his collection were so terrified by the commotion that they began removing their own feathers.
He added: “It has caused a lot of grief and stress. The noise from the drilling killed one of my birds.”
David described how test drilling near his house caused his beloved £1,300 lutino conure parakeet to have a heart attack.
Taking aim at Conor’s real estate project, Dunne continued: “Once the works started, it was so noisy. It really stressed all my birds out. Some of them started plucking their feathers out due to stress. So I had to do something.”
David then reached out to McGregor’s company, expecting assistance and a resolution. But despite assurances to compensate for the loss and aid in relocating the birds away from the disruptive site, the promises remained unfulfilled.
Dunne said: “I rang and told McGregor’s company about it. 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.”
David thought he made a deal with the company to assist in relocating the parrots from the Drimnagh. But the business subsequently changed its mind and only provided the cost of renting a vehicle.
Dunne said: “I had to take all my aviaries down and move all the birds out all on my own. 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.”
The bulk of the parrots have already been moved by the enthusiast to a friend’s farm in County Wicklow.
David is expecting his second child in April. He said that he and his pregnant girlfriend had suffered a “horrible toll” from the construction project.
Dunne stated: “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.”
Planning approval has been granted for a nine-story, 188 build-to-rent apartment complex on the Drimnagh building site. Residents in the area are furious that preliminary construction is already underway on the property. Several of them have voiced their opposition to McGregor’s plans.