About Us
Friends of the Irish Environment was formed by a group of environmental activists in 1997 who felt that European law was not being recognised in Ireland and that community groups and individuals needed a way to connect with environmental activists.
Initial meetings were informal but FIE soon determined to become a company in order to establish credibility and be able to bring legal challenges in the Irish Courts. The Company was established under Irish law in 2001 and acts as the formal structure for an active network of volunteers who try and fulfil the following goals:
• monitor the full implementation of, and to assist in the development of, European law;
• work for changes in the Irish planning laws;
• encourage the implementation of the right to full public participation and access to justice;
• provide assistance to individuals, local groups, and the wider public in understanding environmental issues;
• seek proper implementation of environmental and planning law to support sustainable communities including the pursuit of concerns and cases in both the built and the natural environment.
FIE welcomes help of all kind; bring your own ideas or look through our website and see where you think you might be able to assist. We work almost entirely through email lists, but have an annual Weekend where we develop our main projects. Mail us or give us a call. That’s what we were set up for.
WE URGENTLY NEED PEOPLE TO HELP RESEARCH ON A HOST OF ISSUES TO INFORM POLICY COMMENTS. LOOK THROUGH OUR SITE, WORK OUT WHAT WE NEED, AND GET IN TOUCH. [WE CAN’T PAY BUT THE EXPERIENCE WILL BE INVALUABLE AND GOES ON THE CV.]
Contact details:
Phone: International + 353 (0) 27 74771 / Mobile + 353 (0) 87 2176316
Mail: admin@friendsoftheirishenvironment.net
Help Us Help You – You can make a donation easily on line.
Look at out audited accounts (available from 2002) and see how poor we really are:
See Pio O’Sullivan’s Video Profile of FIE’s Director Tony Lowes: ‘A Simple View’
“As a member of An Taisce, I have long been impressed at the effectiveness of FIE. I had signed up for your email bulletins several times but they have only started arriving regularly in the past year or so. It’s great to see at least one environmental interest group that has real tenacity, focus and the capacity to get attention from the appropriate powers.
I have just made a small donation, prompted by your latest email. Having looked at your accounts I am amazed at how little you receive by way of donations.
Keep up the good work!” (September 2012)
2011: EU Law: Text, Cases and Materials
Paul Craig QC FBA (Author), Gráinne de Búrca (Author)
Harvard University Press, 2011
Enforcement Actions Against Member States
Given this ambivalent attitude [of the European Commission towards infringement complaints, the primary objective as that of bringing offending member states into line rather than satisfying individual interests] it is not surprising to find that the role played by individual complainants is imprecise and varying, although often key in detecting and pursuing infringements.
One specific example is the role of a particular Irish NGO, Friends of the Irish Environment, working with a group of crusading lawyers including Peter Sweetman and Greg Casey, which has consistently brought information about environmental infringements in Ireland to the attention of the Commission, leading to several of the infringements proceedings brought against Ireland.
What the Media Say
David Folan, NUI Galway, February 2010 – A poster was produced by David Folan, a student in NUI, Galway undertaking a Geography MA in Environment, Society and Development. As part of his course work for a select module – Managing Development – he chose to critique the FIE and its work.
Stephen Price, Sunday Business Post, 19 July, 2009 – ‘However, some groups have been beavering away, uncovering good stories which demonstrate that even basic environmental protection is as good as absent in many places around the country. Cork–based Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) has revealed fatal flaws in the way that local authorities (don’t) deal with quarries and peat, including a case study near Coole in Co Westmeath that is truly appalling, especially since it is most likely being replicated cross–country. Modesty forbids me from lifting FIE’s hard work and simply replicating it here; I’d rather you took a look for yourself.’
Silvia Thompson, Horizons, Irish Times, 27 October, 2007 –”A dynamic campaigning website that provides an environmental news service and highlights many local issues, such as clear–felling in Irish forests or the Coastwatch Ireland campaign against cockle dredging in Waterford Bay.”
Michael Viney, Irish Times, Saturday September 23, 2006 – “Friends of the Irish Environment will, no doubt, continue to match Coillte’s ecological promises against what happens on the ground. The NGO’s Forest Network Newsletter, generally hostile and unforgiving, but often revelatory, is archived at the FIE website.”
Company Details
Articles of Association and Memorandum
Page last updated 24 September, 2012