The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) has launched an investigation into the incident beside Lough Owel, near Mullingar in Co Westmeath and has appealed to the public for information.

The shooting dead of a two-year-old female white-tailed eagle at Lough Owel, near Mullingar in Co Westmeath last month shocked nature lovers countrywide and was widely condemned as a deplorable act.