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TIPT is a free environmental news service which is published on Tuesdays and Fridays by Friends of the Irish Environment. More than 12,700 stories from the last four years are searchable on our website, where comments can be posted on individual stories.
A new audio blog has been posted to the website entitled: 'Why I Miss The Greens (In Opposition)'
http://friendsoftheirishenvironment.net/ |
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Save the planet, but keep the change |
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 Eco-friendly public not doing enough
MOST Irish people are concerned about climate change but are reluctant to change. These are the findings of a comprehensive survey launched yesterday to coincide with the start of Science Week Ireland 2008 -- 'Science -- Changing our World' -- which was kicked off at the Sligo Institute of Technology. Read more. |
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McManus critical of carbon reducing campaigns |
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_1.jpg) Liz McManus: campaigns "vanity projects" for Ministers
TWO GOVERNMENT publicity campaigns aimed at reducing carbon emissions and costing almost €12 million are "vanity projects" for Ministers, the Labour Party spokeswoman on energy and natural resources has said.
Liz McManus said the change.ie campaign by Minister for the Environment John Gormley, which would cost €6.3 million by the end of the year, and the Power of One campaign by Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan, costing €5.5 million, contained much duplication and had failed to persuade people to modify their behaviour. Her remarks follow publication of a survey yesterday which found that while a majority of people are concerned about the environment, few are willing to change their personal habits. Read more. |
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'Seas of mud being washed into rivers' |
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 AN ECOLOGICAL disaster is on the cards because of tree felling by the state's forestry company, environmentalists have claimed.
Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) accused Coillte of flouting strict tree felling conditions, designed to protect the environment, on a site in north Cork. But Coillte rejected the accusations and said it has complied with all regulations.
"No statutory body has lodged any complaints regarding environmental or other damage on the site in question," a spokesperson said. Read more. |
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'Keep your nose out', cllr tells Georgian Society |
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 THE Irish Georgian Society has been told to "keep their noses out of Abbeyleix," after they lambasted the design of the recently refurbished Market House in the town. Local cllr John Joe Fennelly was responding to the society's latest newsletter in which they declared "a regrettable instance of totally inappropriate modern design has just been perpetuated at the mid 19th century Market House, Abbeyleix, now the Abbeyleix library".
The author of the article wrote: "It is true that this market house has been the subject of alterations and refacing in c.1905 in roughly arts and crafts style. However, this year a wholly inappropriate glass extension known locally as the bus shelter has been inserted across the original three stone archways of the building." Read more. |
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Gormley challenges council's builders list |
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DONEGAL COUNTY Council's plan to draw up a list of small builders and guarantee them planning permission for up to two "one-off" houses a year is being challenged by Minister for the Environment John Gormley. "The Minister's position is that compilation by the councillors of an annual register of small builders who will then be permitted to build two houses each per year is not appropriate for inclusion in a land-use plan," a spokesman said.
"It is akin to business support - and preferred business support at that - which may be open to legal challenge as it confers preferred development rights on local builders to the exclusion of others from outside the locality. This is the fourth case where [Mr Gormley] may have no option but to intervene because a council is not adhering to planning legislation and policy. He believes it highlights an issue where councillors act . . . against the interests of the wider community." Read more. |
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Plan for 'eco-district' in west Dublin approved |
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 AN BORD Pleanála has approved a masterplan for the development of more than 11,500 new homes at Clonburris, in west Dublin, with its chairman describing it as a model of "superb planning" for the future of Ireland. The masterplan was prepared by South Dublin County Council for the Clonburris Strategic Development Zone (SDZ), under the leadership of senior planner Paul Hogan, who also headed the planning team for nearby Adamstown.
Clonburris is envisaged as a major new "eco-district" with a range of significant and innovative environmental sustainability measures in terms of transport, energy use, carbon reduction and the conservation of biodiversity. Read more. |
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Councils zoning too far from services, say planners |
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 LOCAL councils should not zone land for development which does not have access to public transport and services, the chair of the planning appeals board has warned. Launching An Bord Pleanála's 2007 annual report, John O'Connor said the board constantly comes across zoned sites that are too far removed from developed areas, too remote from public facilities such as piped services, footpaths, lighting and with no prospect of public transport. Many of the proposals are dependant on long-distance commuting by private transport.
"The idea that every place must get development, no matter how thinly spread, was never sustainable, but will be distinctly less sustainable in the future - either in the environmental or the economic sense. Read more.
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| Strandhill group defends objection to airport car park |
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A SPOKESPERSON for the Dorrins and Cummeen Strand Conservation Group has been defending its decision to object to plans to extend the car park and hangar facility at Sligo airport. John McDermott said he was surprised that Sligo airport manager Joe Corcoran had not met with the group to discuss his concerns before going public. Mr Corcoran told local media that the objection to the hangar and the car park were separate issues from the runway issue which has yet to be decided by Sligo County Council. Read more. |
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Oral hearing into liquid gas pipeline to be held next month |
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 AN ORAL hearing into the construction of a 25km pipeline to connect the country's first planned liquefied natural gas terminal at Ralappane on the Shannon Estuary in Co Kerry to the national gas network at Leahys near Foynes in Co Limerick is to be held in early December, An Bord Pleanála said yesterday.
Compulsory purchase orders for land for the pipeline which went into public notice in August will form part of the hearing in Listowel. A total of 20 submissions have been received by the board. A senior planning inspector will chair the hearing, which will consider the proposal. About 10 landowners have objected to the pipeline. Read more. |
| Killala call to arms to stop dump at Asahi |
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A LAST ditch attempt is being made to stop a highly controversial waste facility from opening in Killala. Local people fear that a large recycling centre, which has been given the green light by Mayo County Council, will put further pressure on hazardous local roads, cause health risks and pre-empt the proper rehabilitation of the old Asahi site. Questions have also been raised by Killala Community Council, which is appealing the local authority's decision, about the manner in which initial permission was granted. Read more. |
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Further energy developments planned for Mayo |
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Mayo could become a new energy centre for Ireland under government plans for further energy developments near the contentious Corrib gas pipeline in the north of the county. Eamon Ryan, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, plans to "encourage the development of a new gas plant" in the area and support development of the electricity grid to connect to the area. He said the government had already committed to developing a wave or tidal grid connection out to the sea near Belmullet. Read more. |
| Alumina plant's profits fall 97% |
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 PRETAX PROFITS at Rusal Aughginish, the largest alumina refinery in Europe, on the Shannon estuary, last year tumbled 97 per cent to $3.3 million (€2.6 million), new returns to the Companies Office confirm. Ownership of the refinery passed into the control of Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska after it was purchased by United Company Rusal from Aughinsh Alumina's previous owners, Swiss trading firm Glencore.
Accounts filed by Limerick Refinery Alumina, whose principal activity is the production and sale of alumina, show that the company's pretax profits for 2007 were $3.3 million compared to $124.6 million recorded in 2006.The main factors behind the steep drop in pretax profits last year is the 59 per cent increase in the cost of purchasing bauxite and gas on the 2006 spend. Read more. |
| CAP changes will put food supply at risk, warns State |
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 THE GOVERNMENT has told the EU that a radical change to the common agricultural policy (CAP) would risk undermining Europe's security of food supply.
It has also ruled out accepting any proposal for a Europe-wide tax to pay for the EU in a review of the union's budget, which will be launched by EU budget commissioner Dalia Grybauskaite at a conference in Brussels later this week.
"As a matter of principle, Ireland is opposed to an 'EU tax'. Furthermore, it is not clear how such a tax would be equitable," says the Government in a submission to the commission on the proposed reforms, which has been obtained by The Irish Times. Read more. |
| Gormley critical of Smith's speech on cattle and climate |
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 MINISTER FOR Agriculture Brendan Smith was yesterday taken to task by his Cabinet colleague John Gormley over comments that climate change must not damage Irish agriculture.
Mr Gormley, the Minister for the Environment, said he was "very surprised" to learn of a speech delivered by Mr Smith in which he argued against reducing cattle numbers to help Ireland meet the EU target of a 20 per cent reduction in emissions by 2020.
In a speech at a conference organised by Teagasc, Mr Smith pointed to agriculture contributing 27 per cent of all greenhouse emissions in Ireland, a much higher percentage than other EU countries. Most of this comes from methane produced from cattle. Read more.
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Protected goose species in decline due to climate changes |
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 NUMBERS OF the protected Greenland white-fronted goose are in gradual decline and climate change may be the cause. Warmer summer weather in western Greenland may be allowing increased competition from other species to reduce breeding potential.
The Greenland white-fronted goose is a regular visitor to our shores, with more than half the entire world population overwintering here, said Alyn Walsh, district conservation officer with the National Parks and Wildlife Service. Their lifestyle and how we have come to understand it provided an engaging talk yesterday in Wexford. Read more. |
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Off-roaders targeted in new EU laws |
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 BIKERS, scramblers and quad drivers now face stiff penalties for taking their vehicles off the road tinder new EU legislation. This follows the prosecution of a man fined EUR 1,000 for driving his quad in the Slieve Bloom Mountains in Co Laois.
Wildlife Service spokeswoman Ciara Flynn claimed off-road vehicles damage fragile habitats. She said: "They can kill heather. The tracks they leave form a channel for water causing peat erosion. "They can also dry out the bog and cause disturbances to ground-nesting birds such as the rare hen harrier and red grouse."
Green party TD Mary White called the new legislation "fantastic".
© Mirror 3.11.o8 |
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Return of the Forest Network Newsletter |
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Tomorrow sees the return of FNN [Forest Network Newsletter], dubbed by Michael Viney in the Irish Times as 'generally hostile and unforgiving, but often revelatory'. Issue 178 includes pieces analysing how Ireland is avoiding an SEA for forestry; the FSC [Forest Stewardship Council] certification debacle; the status of the hen harrier and fresh water pearl mussel; the recent contractors' protest at the Irish Natural Forestry Foundations Cork conference (which is also covered with links to the pod casts of the presentations); the legal status of Coillte and how they misled Ireland's Minister about the UK pesticides authority having approved the cocktail of insecticide and adhesive they now apply to the seedlings at their nurseries and export to the UK; - and an obituary for Crann, the self styled 'leading Irish tree organisation' which has been awarded €5000 from the plastic bag levy fund to help it 'merge' and 'rebrand' with another organisation. Subscribe on the drop down menu or mail a request for FNN 178. |
| Public urged to help save our ancient woodland |
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The public have been recruited in the battle to save Northern Ireland's oldest trees. Just 0.08% of Northern Ireland's land mass is covered by ancient woodland. And since the 1960s, 273 of Northern Ireland's ancient woodland have been cleared for agriculture and development. Now the Woodland Trust is calling on people to use the planning system to fight back when ancient woodland in their area comes under threat, using a new online tool called WoodWatch. Read more. |
| Larger-scale farms still prepared to go organic |
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 Large-scale farms across the north are switching to organic production despite fears about the future of the industry, an organic adviser has claimed. Sales of organic products in Britain and Northern Ireland were worth around £2 billion in 2006 - up more than a fifth on 2005. However, a survey carried out by market research company TNS has found that sales of organic food have fallen from a peak of nearly £100 million a month at the start of this year to £81million in August Only around one per cent of farm land in Northern Ireland is used for organic production compared with between 5 and 7 per cent of land in Britain. Read more. |
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Green spaces 'reduce health gap' |
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Nature may be good for health A bit of greenery near our homes can cut the "health gap" between rich and poor, say researchers from two Scottish universities. Even small parks in the heart of our cities can protect us from strokes and heart disease, perhaps by cutting stress or boosting exercise. Their study, in The Lancet, matched data about hundreds of thousands of deaths to green spaces in local areas. Councils should introduce more greenery to improve wellbeing, they said. Read more. |
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Sainsbury boss says 'food miles' miss point |
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 Justin King, the chief executive of supermarket J Sainsbury, will say on Friday that shoppers' concerns over so-called "food miles" are "misplaced and ill-judged". He will also argue that the movement to increase the amount of British food for sale on supermarket shelves is "fundamentally flawed" as it too often confuses concerns over the UK's ability to be self -sufficient in its food requirements with outright protectionism.
In a wide-ranging speech to students at the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester, Mr King will say that supermarkets must trade with Africa and other parts of the developing world to help lift the countries out of poverty. Read more. |
| 'Clean-up' bees could save endangered hives |
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 A British scientist is hoping to reverse the critical decline of the honeybee by breeding 'cleaner bees' to protect hives from potentially devastating diseases. Francis Ratnieks, the UK's only professor of apiculture, is undertaking pioneering research based on a breed of worker bee genetically programmed to keep hives clean. So-called 'hygienic' bees are responsible for removing dead pupae and larvae from hives, but they only exist in very small numbers. The Sussex University academic believes that, if more of them can be artificially bred, they will protect hives from parasites such as the varroa mite which last year killed two billion honeybees and wiped out one in three colonies. Read more. |
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MEPs stick to their guns on pesticide approvals |
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 The European parliament's environment committee has reaffirmed its first-reading position on plans to revise EU pesticide approval rules. The committee backed more stringent rules in a second-reading vote on Wednesday. MEPs also reiterated their position on a draft directive to reduce pesticide use.
Regarding pesticide approvals, MEPs restated their support for hazard-based criteria for deciding approval of the most dangerous pesticides. Governments also support this. Industry has repeatedly argued for risk-based criteria. Read more. |
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Ozone pollution "still a health hazard in Europe" |
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 Current policies are "not sufficient" to reduce the impacts of ozone pollution on human health in the EU significantly over the next decade, according to a new World Health Organisation (WHO) report released last week.
The report concludes existing measures will only reduce premature mortality in Europe by some 600 cases per year, down from 21,000, between 2000 and 2020. Implementing ambitious climate policies could achieve "markedly larger" reductions of around 40 per cent, the authors say. Read more. |
| ECJ clarifies obligations under water pollution law |
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 Operators of fish farms discharging substances such as ammonia and nitrites into water are required to seek prior authorisation under a 2006 directive on dangerous substances in water, EU judges said on Thursday.
The European court of justice (ECJ) was asked to interpret the directive in a case brought in France by green group ANPER-TOS. The group called on French judges to annul a decree exempting fish farms with an annual production capacity of less than 20 tonnes from the requirement.
The French decree simply requires fresh-water fish farms with a low environmental impact to notify their emissions to water to local authorities. Authorities can then decide to impose emission limits or stop the activities, but no prior authorisation is needed. Read more. |
| Can legislation stop the wells running dry? |
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 IMAGINE sharing scarce water with your neighbours without having any say in how long they shower or how often they run their washing machine. This is the situation many nations find themselves in when it comes to sharing out the 96 per cent of the world's fresh water that comes from aquifers deep underground.
Many of these subterranean reservoirs straddle international borders. With the UN predicting that by 2025 two-thirds of us will experience water shortages, the blue gold they supply will become more valuable than ever. Yet there are no international rules to help sort out how to share this water. That could be about to change. Read more. |
| Flu shots save fewer lives than thought |
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 THIS month, millions of elderly people in the US, Europe and elsewhere are lining up for their annual flu shots. This is widely seen as a hugely effective public health intervention that halves the risk of dying over the winter for those aged 65 or above. For every 200 vaccinations, one life is saved.
Yet there is now overwhelming evidence that this claim is simply too good to be true, and that we should be looking at additional ways to tackle flu. Read more. |
| Beware the destructive nature of greed |
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 PYTHAGORAS said that there are three kinds of people, who can be classified by analogy to those who attend the games: competitors, spectators, and those who come to buy and sell under the stands. He likened philosophers (a term which for him included mathematicians and scientists) to the spectators, imputing a certain superiority to them, especially over those bartering and haggling.
The current global financial meltdown makes it easy to feel like one of Pythagoras's spectators - if one is not directly involved or affected. Greedy speculators and bankers, wild fear-driven stock-market fluctuations and insufficient regulation have combined to create a dismaying mess which is depriving ordinary folk of their homes and jobs. Read more. | |
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