Councillors push for Curragh Plains to finally get protective status Reporter: '); '); Kildare County Council has been strongly urged to have the Curragh Plains protected in new legislation. Cllr Tracey O’Dwyer called on the council to write to the Minister of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage asking him to make an order designating the Curragh Plains as a Natural Heritage Area under Section 16 (1) of the Wildlife Amendment Act, (2000). At January's Kildare-Newbridge Municipal District Meeting, she also called on the Minister to begin the formal process of advancing its current designation from a Proposed Natural Heritage Area (p NHA) to a Natural Heritage Area (NHA).