BirdWatch Ireland, Ireland’s largest conservation charity and BirdLife Partner, warmly welcomes the ruling by the European Court of Justice that the Irish Government has failed to fulfil its obligations under EU law in relation to the designation and classification of Special Protection Areas (SPAs) for wild birds. The Court also found that the Irish Government had failed adequately to protect some of Ireland’s most threatened bird species, including the Kingfisher Alcedo atthis, the Chough Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax and the Corncrake Crex crex.