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Corrie star Jack Duckworth made the pigeon racing famous but there are fears that the sport is dying out here, the Irish Mirror can reveal.

From its heyday in the mid 1980s when there were over 2,000 members in Federation the number has plummeted to just 800 and continues to fall.

But there are still 120 racing-pigeon clubs in Ireland and those who love the sport are determined to recruit more members.

“Once you get a few pigeons it becomes a passion”, said John O’Brien who has been keeping the birds for four years.

“They are remarkable birds. We all know about their homing abilities but they can also see pressure in the atmosphere and solar pulses and wavelengths which re not visible to the human eye.”

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John, 31, from Clondalkin, Dublin who is spokesman for the Irish South Road Federation is hopeful that an increasing number of young people are becoming interested as well as people who have retired.

He added: “I can safely say that becoming interested in keeping and racing pigeons saved me.

“I guarantee that anyone who gives it a try and gets a few birds will become addicted.

“Can there be another creature that you can let free in England or France which will find its way home to Ireland in less then a day?”

While a few prize birds can be worth up to €310,000 to overseas racing fanatics most pigeons are valued at just a few hundred euro but they are priceless to those who put so much time and effort into rearing and racing them.

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Chairman of Irish South Road Pigeon Federation Henry Byrne, who has been keeping birds since he was 12 years old, said some members of the public see pigeons as pests which is complete nonsense.

Pointing to the spotlessly clean loft at St Margarets in North Dublin he said many pigeon fanciers look after their birds as well as their kids.

He said: “These birds live in the lap of luxury and they get the best of attention.

There’s the mistaken belief that pigeons attract rats and are dirty but this is just not true, according to Henry.

He said “Pigeon-fanciers nearly look their birds better than their kids..... just ask their wives.”

Henry explained that some fanciers race their pigeons from West Cork to Dublin while others send them to the UK or even France.

“They could make it back from France in nine hours but it could take them 15 hours or longer if the weather was bad.”

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He also revealed that between 2003 and 2008 he had a black pigeon dubbed “The Dark Destroyer” which won 15 races and is still alive and breeding.

Anyone interested in keeping pigeons can get details at www.racingpigeon.ie which provides links to the Irish Homing Union and the Irish South Road Federation.

Pricey pigeons: Two years ago a Belgian coop of 530 birds sold for €4.3 million. The star pigeon Bolt was bought by a Chinese businessman for a staggering €310,000.

While named after the Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt, he will not race as he was bought for breeding.

TEN FACTS ABOUT PIGEONS

1. Most of our domesticated pigeons have a common ancestor, the Rock Dove pigeon.

2. Racing homing pigeons have been clocked flying 92.5 mph average speed on a 400 mile race.

3. Homing pigeons have been known to fly 700 miles in a day.

4. Pigeons have helped in WWI & WW2 and saved countless lives.

5. Pigeons achieved a 98% success rate in the missions flown in WW2.

6. Pigeons are still used by the French, Swiss, Israeli, Iraqi and Chinese Armies.

7. They can and are ready to breed at the age of 5 to 6 months.

8. They can breed as old as 10 years of age.

9. They are bred, raised and trained as good as thoroughbred horses.

10. Queen Elizabeth is a pigeon fan and keeps lofts on one of her estates.