Following an appeal by Pat Swords, the Commissioner for Environmental Information (detailed here) ruled that the Department of the Environment was not within its rights to charge search and retrieval fees on his request, as this was essentially contrary to the Access to Information on the Environment (AIE) 2007/2011 Regulations.

The Department had 8 weeks in which to appeal that decision to the High Court, if they disagreed.

The Department has confirmed to TheStory.ie that they have not pursued an appeal.

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A patchwork of paths and ornamental features, created in the 18th century during the heyday of formal gardening, has been discovered under layers of soil at famed Killarney House.

The gardens, leading from the centre of the top tourist town to the largest of the Killarney lakes, are to be restored with the restoration works leading to “a St Stephen’s Green–type” amenity.

 Killarney House was part of a chateau which was once the seat of the Earls of Kenmare. Now in state ownership, it is being renovated with 35 acres of gardens being restored. Traces of the lost gardens were uncovered by archaeologists in recent weeks. 

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Under Mont Blanc’s glittering peak, mountain guides and scientists tell the same story: the Alps are warming, the evidence of climate change is clear and the golden years of ski tourism will soon be past.

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‘The Population Bomb’ was one of the most influential environmental books of the 1960s. Written by Professor of Biology at Stanford University, Paul Ehrlich, and (then uncredited) his wife Anne, it became a classic of eco–catastrophism, rehearsing Malthus’s dictum that: “The power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man”.

However, Malthus made no predictions of imminent catastrophes. The Ehrlichs did. They predicted that “nothing can prevent famines in which hundreds of millions of people will die during the 1970s”.

In recent interviews Paul Ehrlich has forgivingly said that this was simply because he “underestimated the resilience of the world system”, claiming that in fact his views have become “depressingly mainline”.

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The North’s Minister of the Environment, Alex Attwood, is to extend the time for 27 archaeologists to conduct a dig on what has been described as one of the most important crannógs in Ireland. 

For at least 1,000 years, the site is believed to have housed generations of the same Gaelic Christian family who kept cattle and pigs, were close to the local nobility, had crafts expertise and liked to dress up and play board games. 

Work on building a road over the crannóg – an ancient dwelling built on an artificial island in a lake – located at Drumclay just outside Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, was due to begin at the start of the new year. However, the SDLP Minister said extra time would be provided to allow the archaeologists to complete their excavation. Roadworks at the site were halted in June.

Mr Attwood did not specify how much more time would be allowed for the excavation.

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Landowners should make themselves aware of any historic or protected structures on their land and of any obligations that they had towards such structures, said a judge as he imposed fines and penalties totalling ¤20,000 on a farmer who demolished two ring forts on his land. 

Judge Donagh McDonagh said there was an onus on landowners to know their obligations under law relating to historic structures as he imposed fines and penalties on Patrick Desmond (41), Curraghlough, Lissarda, Co Cork. 

At Cork Circuit Criminal Court yesterday, the farmer pleaded guilty to two counts of failing to notify the Minister for the Environment of his intention to carry out works on two ring forts on his land at Knocknacaraigh, Kilmurry, Co Cork, between June 24th and July 29th 2010. 

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Ireland’s status as an island nation is much touted, yet we have failed to capitalise on it by building a thriving fish–farming industry. 

Global demand for seafood is growing rapidly, far beyond what can be delivered from traditional wild–caught fish. 

An estimated 42 million tonnes of extra seafood will be required annually by the year 2030 because of population growth. The global production of farmed salmon, which stands at two million tonnes a year, is expected to rise to three million tonnes by 2020.

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LEITRIM–BASED teacher Cecily Gilligan set out from Manorhamilton on Saturday on a 215km (134–mile) walk to Leinster House in a protest at plans to start “fracking” in her area. 

A member of the Love Leitrim group, which is against the controversial method of shale gas extraction, she intends to take the scenic route to Dublin through many of the towns and villages now bypassed by drivers. 

“I hope when I am trudging along that people will ask me what it is all about and that I can explain to them the scale of this huge industrial project and what I believe is the irreversible damage it will do to our landscape and our air and our water,” said Ms Gilligan, who has walked 500km (310 miles) on the Camino de Santiago in Spain. 

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£5bn proposal hopes to build more than 700 turbines and transport power in cables beneath Irish Sea

Hundreds of wind farms could be built on the great bog of Ireland to generate electricity exclusively for the UK’s national grid under plans being considered by ministers.

Element Power, the company behind the £5 billion proposals, hopes to build more than 700 turbines and transport power through two dedicated undersea cables across the Irish sea.

Company executives met Ed Davey, the cabinet minister in charge of climate change, and civil servants to discuss the plans this summer.

The plans have been discussed among the coalition and appear in theory to appease both political parties. Liberal Democrats wish for an increase in green energy but have concerns over the high price of building wind farms offshore. Conservative ministers are worried about the backlash in some rural communities as wind turbines have become more common in Britain.

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THE M1 was closed in both directions for a time last night after bales of hay caught fire on the back of a truck near Dundalk.

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“There is a difference between speaking and using words. I mean you have to use words to speak. Maybe the words were used but they did not speak exactly. Because there’s a difference between speaking and using words.” 

Enda Kenny, Taoiseach, as quoted from a Dail debate by Jody Corcoran of the Sunday Independent, 22 July, 2012

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Archeologists have uncovered evidence of pre–farming people living in the Burren more than 6,000 years ago — one of the oldest habitations ever unearthed in Ireland.
Radiocarbon dating of a shellfish midden on Fanore Beach in north Clare have revealed it to be at least 6,000 years old — hundreds of years older than the nearby Poulnabrone dolmen.

The midden — a cooking area where nomad hunter–gatherers boiled or roasted shellfish — contained Stone Age implements, including two axes and a number of smaller stone tools.

Excavation of the site revealed a mysterious black layer of organic material, which archeologists believe may be the results of a Stone Age tsunami which hit the Clare coast, possibly wiping out the people who used the midden.

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Sir, – As archaeologists with a particular interest in peatlands, we note with some concern the Government’s intention to seek “flexibility” on private turf–cutting within areas of bog designated as Special Areas of Conservation (SACs). Irish raised bogs are recognised internationally for their archaeological, palaeoenvironmental and cultural significance.

To date, more than 4,000 archaeological sites and several hundred artefacts have been identified within Irish raised bogs. These same bogs preserve long–term records of environmental change offering particular insight into this island’s vegetation and climate history.

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Rather than champion a risky technology, we should apply scientific scepticism to Teagasc’s application for GM potato trials

Haven’t we had enough ‘late lessons’ . . . to be cautious in this case

THE CAPACITY of new language to confuse comes into sharp focus in the GM crops debate. Their defining feature is that they contain a gene transferred from another species by genetic engineering. Species can be usefully defined as a group of organisms all of whose members are capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring.

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A 64–YEAR–old farmer was yesterday ordered to pay a €25,000 fine for demolishing a ring fort on his land or face two years in prison. John O’Mahony of Clashmealcon, Causeway, Co Kerry, is the first person to be prosecuted and convicted under National Monuments legislation. O’Mahony pleaded guilty to carrying out unauthorised work on the ring fort and on its souterrain –– a series of underground tunnels –– in February 2008. He was convicted of the offences at Tralee Circuit Court last year.

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A JUDGE who is deciding what size of financial penalty to impose on a north Kerry farmer said yesterday he would need more time to examine the financial books of the farmer, who was described by his solicitor as “not a rich man”. The farmer admitted the destruction of an an important ring fort and underground passageway which had a protection order on it. Staff from the National Museum and the National Monuments Service were in court yesterday.

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The archaeological stratigraphic report covers excavations between 1986 and 2010 on the island off the Kerry coast.

It was published yesterday on foot of a recommendation in a Unesco report of 2007 which was critical of aspects of State management of the seventh- century monastic site.

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The medieval burial ground was discovered on farmland in Rush, north Dublin, in June as EirGrid laid piping for a high voltage direct current (HVDC) underground power line.

Radiocarbon tests at Queens University, Belfast, have revealed the site dates back to the seventh century, from between 617 to 675 AD.

Archaeologists would not speculate on the number of remains on the site but confirmed they were pre-Viking and from the conversion period of Christianity.

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