The Irish Papers Today [TIPT] is a selection of published news articles about the Irish environment [SEE THE NEW ARCHIVE]. TIPT is also available as a free email sent to you twice a week. [SUBSCRIBE ] The headlines are available as a live news feed for any website. We are grateful to the original publishers, with whom the copyright remains. These services are supported by voluntary contributions from readers across the world. [DONATE]
| Galway Bypass Court Case 1 |
 Approval for Galway bypass 'contravenes' EU law, court told
AN BORD Pleanála approved the €17 million Galway city bypass after finding the impact of the project on the Lough Corrib conservation area, while "locally severe", would not adversely affect the "integrity" of the site, the Commercial Court heard yesterday.
The decision was akin to saying, if we have a lot of early church stained glass in Ireland, it does not matter if you allow 10 per cent of it to be destroyed, Paul O'Higgins SC, for environmental campaigner Peter Sweetman, said. That was "entirely contrary" to the purpose of European law on conservation of habitats.// Read More // |
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| Posted By Tony Lowes on 03/07/2009 ( Reads : 13 ) | Comments (0) | |
| Galway Bypass Court Case 2 |
 Planning board accused of allowing destruction of priority Corrib habitat THE STATE has accused An Bord Pleanála of permitting "the deliberate destruction" of priority habitat limestone pavement at the protected Lough Corrib site in Co Galway by granting approval for the €317 million Galway city outer bypass.
In a strong attack on the board at the Commercial Court yesterday, Garret Simons SC, for the State, argued that the board's approval was invalid as it breached the European habitats directive requiring member states to protect natural habitats. // Read More // |
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| Posted By Tony Lowes on 03/07/2009 ( Reads : 11 ) | Comments (0) | |
| Government criticised by EU over environment |
 THE EUROPEAN Commission's director-general for the environment, Karl Falkenberger, has criticised the Government's failure to adopt the EU Directive on Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
Mr Falkenberger said that unlike the waste management and water quality directives, where implementation required significant investment, this directive was an "administrative procedure that doesn't cost much".
Referring to a current case against Ireland over the environmental impact assessment carried out for the M3 and Tara, he said the commission "as guardians of EU legislation, have no choice but to see each other in court" when all other efforts to ensure full compliance had failed. // Read More // |
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| Posted By Tony Lowes on 03/07/2009 ( Reads : 9 ) | Comments (0) | EU Environmental |
| Spirit of Ireland plans energy transformation |
 When technology firm Orbiscom was sold for $100 million in January, co-founder Graham O'Donnell could have funded a comfortable retirement with his share of the proceeds. Instead, O'Donnell has been working on one of the most ambitious projects the country has ever seen - and one that has attracted both praise and scepticism. An engineer and entrepreneur, O'Donnell is the public face of the Spirit of Ireland project, which is proposing a €10 billion investment to give Ireland ‘‘energy independence within five years''. // Read More // |
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| Posted By Tony Lowes on 03/07/2009 ( Reads : 12 ) | Comments (0) | Energy |
| Ryan rules out Corrib gas deal re-negotiation |
 ENERGY Minister Eamon Ryan has ruled out any chance of the Government renegotiating the Corrib gas deal with Shell and its partners after admitting any changes would damage Ireland's reputation abroad.
Despite calls by groups for a share in the west of Ireland project, Mr Ryan defended the Government's tax take on the controversial gas deal. Most of the contracts around bringing the Corrib gas into the Irish market were signed, he said adding: "What we didn't want to do and what the State is reluctant to, particularly when you're dealing with corporation tax, is to start changing deals that you've already done. // Read More // |
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| Posted By Tony Lowes on 03/07/2009 ( Reads : 5 ) | Comments (0) | Natural Resources |
| Sewage plants waste water not reaching EU standards |
 WASTE WATER from more than half of the country's sewage treatment plants failed to reach EU quality standards in 2006 and 2007, according to a report released yesterday by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
And only one local authority fully complied with the requirements of the EU urban waste water treatment directive.
Urban Waste Water Discharges in Ireland reviewed the quality of discharges from 370 secondary waste-water treatment plants around the country.
While it found that 90 per cent of waste water in the country received secondary treatment or better, in over half the plants, 192, the discharge did not meet EU standards. These included the Ringsend plant in Dublin and nine plants in Galway.// Read More // |
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| Posted By Tony Lowes on 03/07/2009 ( Reads : 4 ) | Comments (0) | Waste |
| Galway Bypass Court Case 2 |
Planning board accused of allowing destruction of priority Corrib habitat THE STATE has accused An Bord Pleanála of permitting "the deliberate destruction" of priority habitat limestone pavement at the protected Lough Corrib site in Co Galway by granting approval for the €317 million Galway city outer bypass.
In a strong attack on the board at the Commercial Court yesterday, Garret Simons SC, for the State, argued that the board's approval was invalid as it breached the European habitats directive requiring member states to protect natural habitats. // Read More // |
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| Posted By Tony Lowes on 03/07/2009 ( Reads : 11 ) | Comments (0) | EU Environmental |
| Galway Bypass Court Case 1 |
Approval for Galway bypass 'contravenes' EU law, court told
AN BORD Pleanála approved the €17 million Galway city bypass after finding the impact of the project on the Lough Corrib conservation area, while "locally severe", would not adversely affect the "integrity" of the site, the Commercial Court heard yesterday.
The decision was akin to saying, if we have a lot of early church stained glass in Ireland, it does not matter if you allow 10 per cent of it to be destroyed, Paul O'Higgins SC, for environmental campaigner Peter Sweetman, said. That was "entirely contrary" to the purpose of European law on conservation of habitats.// Read More // |
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| Posted By Tony Lowes on 03/07/2009 ( Reads : 13 ) | Comments (0) | EU Environmental |
| Plastic bag charge is considered for NI |
 The new environment minister Edwin Poots has said he will consider introducing a levy on plastic bags in shops in Northern Ireland. This week the Welsh Assembly announced proposals which could see shops charge up to 15p for a single use plastic bag. // Read More // |
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| Posted By Peter McCloskey on 02/07/2009 ( Reads : 5 ) | Comments (0) | Waste |
| Poots plans to cut monster hedges from our gardens |
 Environment Minister Edwin Poots has promised to tackle |monster hedges that inconvenience neighbours. Northern Ireland lags behind Britain where legislation has already been put in place allowing councils to take action against homeowners who plant fast-growing leylandii trees that grow to huge proportions. // Read More // |
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| Posted By Peter McCloskey on 02/07/2009 ( Reads : 9 ) | Comments (0) | Planning |
| Huge declines in UK woodland birds |
 The nightingale has effectively vanished from woodlands across the UK. A 30-year survey of British woodland birds has found that its population has fallen by more than 95%. Seventeen other bird species have also declined significantly, many of which overwinter in tropical west Africa where their habitat is being destroyed. Numbers of starling, linnet, bullfinch and willow warbler all crashed, while 12 species, including the blackcap, magpie and collared dove, increased. These startling trends in the populations of some of the UK's best known woodland birds comes from the British Trust for Ornithology's (BTO) Common Bird Census, which gathered data on 49 species between 1967 and 1999. // Read More // |
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| Posted By Peter McCloskey on 02/07/2009 ( Reads : 5 ) | Comments (0) | Biodiversity |
| Wind 'can revolutionise UK power' |
 Wind has the power to revolutionise the UK's electricity industry, according to a study published on Wednesday. Research from analysts Poyry says that the UK can massively expand wind power by 2030 without suffering power cuts or a melt-down of the National Grid. The cost of electricity would then be determined not by consumer demand, but by how hard the wind is blowing. When it is windy power will be so cheap that other forms of generation will be unable to compete, the report says. If accepted by government, these key findings could strongly influence the UK's future energy supplies. The study was done for National Grid, Centrica and others. The researchers reviewed 2.5 million hourly weather reports on wind speeds all around the UK. // Read More // |
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| Posted By Peter McCloskey on 02/07/2009 ( Reads : 7 ) | Comments (0) | Energy |
| Tags to help solve puffin decline |
 Scientists are using hi-tech tags to get an insight into why the number of puffins at one of the UK's key colonies has mysteriously fallen by a third. Researchers are fitting a variety of the devices on the seabirds that are nesting on the Farne Islands, located off the Northumberland coast. A survey in 2008 recorded just 36,500 puffins, down from 55,674 in 2003. The islands are considered a globally key site for seabirds, and are home to the largest puffin colony in England. // Read More // |
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| Posted By Peter McCloskey on 02/07/2009 ( Reads : 5 ) | Comments (0) | Biodiversity |
| Ladybird 'risk to 1,000 species' |
 The Harlequin ladybird is putting over 1,000 species in the UK in peril, scientists have warned. "The rate of spread is dramatic and unprecedented," said Dr Helen Roy of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. The ladybird has spread to most parts of the UK in just four years, preying on many other insects. However, research outlined at the Royal Society's Summer Science Exhibition suggests local ladybird parasites are adapting to prey on the interloper. To help that process along, scientists are suggesting introducing a mite that renders the ladybirds infertile. // Read More // |
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| Posted By Peter McCloskey on 02/07/2009 ( Reads : 5 ) | Comments (0) | Biodiversity |
| Time to waken up and listen to our views on noisy jets |
 New Environment Minister Edwin Poots must choose between the interests of George Best Belfast City Airport’s |operators and the objections of |residents. Fiona McKinley urges him to reach the right decision// Read More // |
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| Posted By Peter McCloskey on 29/06/2009 ( Reads : 5 ) | Comments (0) | Views & Opinons |
| We should be pulling our weight on climate change: Poots |
| Northern Ireland needs to pull its weight worldwide in tackling climate change, according to incoming Environment Minister Edwin Poots. The DUP Lagan Valley Assembly member, who is expected to take over within weeks from his controversial climate sceptic party colleague Sammy Wilson, promised that he will be looking into opening up more sources of renewable energy. In an interview with the Belfast Telegraph, he also criticised Belfast City Council for vetoing plans to site an ‘energy from waste’ incinerator at the North Foreshore, pledged to look at speeding up the planning process and outlined plans to review the driving test. // Read More // |
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| Posted By Peter McCloskey on 29/06/2009 ( Reads : 7 ) | Comments (0) | Global Warming |
| Co Down dig reveals a prehistoric mystery |
| Prehistoric mysteries uncovered in an archaeological dig at a Co Down road scheme were revealed to the public this morning. The team behind the dig at the A1 Loughbrickland road scheme has uncovered not just a Bronze Age burial ground but also a Neolithic settlement dating back some 6,500 years. The settlements, which contained a number of intriguing artefacts, lay on a finger of land which is believed to have been almost surrounded by water in prehistoric times. Three books on the finds have been published, including ‘Digging Down’, a children’s book, and a number of information boards at Loughbrickland lakeside were unveiled by Education Minister Caitriona Ruane this morning. // Read More // |
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| Posted By Peter McCloskey on 29/06/2009 ( Reads : 3 ) | Comments (0) | Archaeology |
| Bovine TB £200m cost 'poor value' |
 Controlling Bovine Tuberculosis has cost the taxpayer £200m over the past 10 years, the Assembly's Public Accounts Committee has said. The PAC has been examining the Department of Agriculture's Bovine TB programme. // Read More // |
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| Posted By Peter McCloskey on 29/06/2009 ( Reads : 3 ) | Comments (0) | Science & animals |
| NI groups unite on green platform |
 NI businesses, trade unions, farmers, voluntary bodies and environmentalists have united on a green platform. They have formed a coalition called the Green New Deal. The group has called on government to take a joined-up approach to the recession, rising unemployment, rising energy prices and climate change. It wants investment to cut consumption of fossil fuels and create thousands of jobs; help secure NI's energy supply and build a low-carbon economy. // Read More // |
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| Posted By Peter McCloskey on 29/06/2009 ( Reads : 3 ) | Comments (0) | Energy |
| Green party activist sues leader Gormley in Europe |
 A PROMINENT Green Party activist has lodged an official complaint with the European Commission accusing his party leader, environment minister John Gormley, of failing to implement EU directives designed to reduce the amount of waste being put in landfill. Fergal O'Byrne, who was the party's candidate in the 2005 Meath by-election, fears the government's inaction will cost Ireland millions in fines after the introduction of stringent new EU landfill targets next July. // Read More // |
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| Posted By Tony Lowes on 23/06/2009 ( Reads : 3 ) | Comments (0) | Waste |
| Grandmother in jail on birthday over planning row with council |
 A GRANDMOTHER will not be able to celebrate her 50th birthday today with her nine children and six grandchildren because she is locked up in prison over a planning row with Limerick County Council. Geraldine Murphy, from Abbeyfeale, has been placed in an overcrowded cell in Limerick prison since last Monday and is sleeping on a mattress on a floor. // Read More // |
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| Posted By Tony Lowes on 16/06/2009 ( Reads : 13 ) | Comments (0) | Planning |
| First two London cycle 'Superhighways' unveiled |
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| Posted By Tony Lowes on 16/06/2009 ( Reads : 5 ) | Comments (0) | Transport |
