A FIANNA FÁIL senator has called for the Minister for Environment to intervene and take action against seagulls in Dublin who he says are keeping people awake at night and stealing children’s lollipops.

Ned O’Sullivan said today that while he has nothing against pigeons he is “very much against seagulls”.

“I think something needs to be done to address the seagull problem here in this city,” he said during the Order of Business in the Seanad this morning.

O’Sullivan said it seemed that seagulls have “lost the run of themselves completely” and cited complaints from listeners on a recent RTÉ Liveline programme.

He also cited his own personal experience of living in an apartment block in the capital where he finds it “impossible” to get a night’s sleep because of the seagulls.

“They’re very raucous, they’re keeping people awake,” O’Sullivan said to muffled laughter in the upper house.

“I saw that they’re getting so cheeky now that they attack young children and dispossess them of their lollipops and stuff like that.”

O’Sullivan concluded his brief contribution on the issue by saying that seagulls appared more interested in eating human waste than looking for fish and called on Environment Minister Alan Kelly to examine what can be done.