This is the original section of the Friend’s website, established in 1997. It continues to record the work of the organisation in a chronological sequence and you can browse its pages or search for a particular subject through the search engine in the upper right hand corner of this page. Click on the 'Read more' to see recent highlights. The site has gone through several upgrades, so if you encounter broken links in the site, use the search engine. 

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As an awareness raising initiative and in influencing behavioral change by consumers, the introduction of a plastic bag levy in 2003 has been an unprecedented success. It has achieved what the European Commission has often stated is that most difficult of objects - to change individual's behavior.

Prior to the introduction of the levy it is estimated that over 1.2 billion plastic bags were given out annually in Ireland - roughly 328 bags per capita per year. When the levy was introduced in 2002 this fell to 21 bags per capita.

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In its submission to the Biodiversity Action Plan , FIE is seeking to have the educational awareness funding targeted at conflict areas in the nature designation process. A recent EU poll showed that Ireland ranked last in awareness of biodiversity throughout the EU.

These designations and the protection they afford are the primary concern of the European Commission's fights against species loss - yet pressure by farmers and land owners unaware of the importance of biodiversity has led to cutbacks in designations.

Read the Submission

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FIE has welcomed the intervention of the Dutch authorities in impounding 6 containers of farm plastic waste from Ireland. The waste is a vector for animal disease and invasive plant material.

The material is heavily contaminated to the point where British Polyethylene Industries (BPI) in Scotland have told FIE that is was necessary to impose a surcharge on Irish farm plastic because of its excessive contamination, which included not only dead animals but the motor of a Ford Anglia.

 However, to date the Irish authorities have considered it ‘green list' waste and have not subject it to any export controls, in spite of representations from FIE and others. See our (unanswered) Letter to the Minister for the Environment.

Exported to Asia and China, bales of contaminated plastic are swung into rivers where - for example - a worker with a machete slashes them to allow the river water to clean them before recycling.

FIE is supporting MEP Caroline Lewis's

It is calling on John Gormley to address these concerns and to give the full figures about this plastic waste. One Irish yard is reported to contain 15,000 tons of soiled farm plastics and shipments are alleged to have continued by road as late as last week.

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English MEP Caroline Lucas has set the cat amongst the pigeons by tabling an

The material is heavily contaminated and a vector for animal disease and invasive plant material. See our Press Release. However, to date the Irish authorities have considered it ‘green list' waste and have not subject it to any export controls, in spite of representations from FIE and others. See our (unanswered) Letter to the Minister for the Environment.

Documents FIE has seen reveal that at the end of 2007 the Department admitted that they had ‘little or no' ‘Certificates of Disposal' which ensure the material goes to ‘an environmentally safe outlet' as stipulated by the EU Trans Frontier Shipment Regulations. Under Article 40, it is now the responsibility of the exporting country to ensure that the final destination of waste is environmentally safe.

FIE understands that thousands of tons of this contaminated waste is currently awaiting export - some brought by legitimate companies under contract to Local Authorities to unauthorized sites. The MEP's intervention requires the Commission to investigate - which is turning the spotlight on Ireland.

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FIE has written to European Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas seeking the extension of Star Energy ratings to televisions. Through a loophole in the law, television are not required to show their power consumption yet huge modern plasma TVs can require many times the power of traditional TVs.

If half of British home owners bought a plasma-screen TV, two nuclear power stations would have to be built to meet the extra energy demand - some 2.5 gigawatts.

FIE's letter to the European Commissioner points out that conservation must be the cornerstone of government's policy but that without proper information, the consumer will be unable to play his part and member states like Ireland are unable to introduced minimum standards.

Q102 Radio interview

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FIE has joined with An Taisce, the National Trust and the Irish Peatland Conservation Council [IPCC] to protest against the grant of planning permission for a 100MW peat and mixed fuel power plant.

An Taisce and the IPCC have appealed the decision to An Bord Pleanala while FIE has raised concerns with the Minister for Natural Resources Eamon Ryan that the decision is stated to be on the basis of government policy when we had thought government policy was opposed to new peat-fired generating capacity.

FIE has also queried the European Commission to determine their position and if they have been notified about this proposal and its potential impact on the National Allocations Program for Ireland's carbon emissions.

According to the EPA, more than 23 million tons of carbon were lost in the 10 years from from peat extraction for combustion in Ireland - and that's without considering the impact on the environment through burning a fossil fuel more polluting than coal

In County Mayo only 29% of the original peatlands remain.

Read the joint .

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FIE has lodged an objection which supports the professional planning staff about the planning application to replace Tralee’s Ballybeggan Racecourse with a mixed commercial, industrial, and residential development  At a pre-planning meeting the planning staff tried to explain to the developers that the site is zoned for amenity and a grant of permission would breach the County’s Development Plan. The planners told the developer that ‘in its present form the proposal contravenes the zoning of the land’ and yet the developers continued irregardless. Why? The application states that as the land is not zoned for planning they are not required to provide social and affordable housing under the Planning Act - saving them €20m - €25m.

The racecourse serves dual purposes. ‘It is a valuable amenity not only for horse lovers – and the support of rural community life - but as a unique 100 acre limestone grassland enclosed by a historically important wall it is providing habitat for a range of biodiversity, including birds such as the protected and increasingly rare skylark.  

See our .

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Friends of the Irish Environment is writing to the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Micheál Martin questioning the first trade deal to be announced by the Minister in South Africa.

Harte Peat sells ‘deeply-dug wet peat' which is used as a base for growing mushrooms. The Minister has announced distribution for this product with a local partner company that will see Irish peat distributed through out South Africa.

It is now bidding to expand its markets in Africa into Mozambique to provide Irish peat which can be used to soak up oil pollution.

FIE says that ‘The Minister's description of peat as "an environmentally friendly product" shows a profound ignorance of the causes of climate change which the Cabinet is supposed to be addressing.'

The amount of peat extraction that is happening outside of Bord na Mona landholdings for horticulture compost and the consequent loss of carbon sink must be fully addressed by the Minister before the Government encourages deals like this.'

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Recent actions relating to the construction of the M3 motorway through the Tara/Skryne Valley reveal the Irish Government to be in direct contravention of both Agenda 21 and the World Heritage Convention.

We the undersigned urgently call upon the United Nations to intervene, and to demand that the Irish Government halt work on the M3. It is imperative that an alternative route and plan be examined, one that does not cut through this heritage site of international importance, and one that is in accordance with the principles of Agenda 21and the World Heritage Convention.

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The Lord Mayor of Dublin, Councillor Paddy Bourke, has welcomed the council's endorsement of his motion seeking to support Earth Hour 2008.

Lord Mayor Burke said: "Earth Hour is an international campaign and Dublin is one of the latest cities to get behind this important event where on March 29th all non-essential lights will be switched off for an hour.

"This campaign is important and everyone from citizens up to Government has a duty to do what they can against global warming. It is up to us all to do what we can to reduce our CO2 emissions. Through one simple action, turning off our lights for an hour, we can deliver a powerful message about the need for action.

"I am thrilled that as Dublin Lord Mayor I will be leading our capital city in its participation in this international event. It was estimated during the Sydney Earth Hour last night demand for electricity dropped by 10 per cent. It would be fantastic if we could do the same in Dublin.

I would urge businesses and homes to join in and take part in the campaign." 

FIE is assisting in coordinating Earth Hour here in Ireland. Please contact us if you would like to be put in touch with others who are working on Earth Hour 2008.

Listen to FIE outline the project on RTE 1 Radio's Mooney Program.

See FIE's Irish Website Earth Hour Homepage.

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The rush of development has resulted in many out of scale multiple coastal developments that are visually intrusive and can not be supported by the infrastructure – and no where more so than in the picturesque village of Union Hall in County Cork. Here, ther Council has even given permission for an estate that blocks the long promised ‘relief road’ which would at least help the inevitable traffic congestion that comes with run-away development.

Read the appeal.

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The environmental lobby group Friends of the Irish Environment will be appealing to the Minister for the Environment to draft legislation to protect Irish soils after yesterday's defeat of the proposed Soils Directive by the European Council of Ministers.

‘Germany, the UK, Austria and the Netherlands all have stringent national legislation protection soils and on these grounds they opposed this seminal directive despite the proposal having the support of 22 of the bloc's 27 member states.'

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Relocating the first proposed Irish Liquid Natural Gas [LNG] terminal from the Shannon to near the Kinsale Gas field must be considered, FIE has told the Planning Appeals Board. The European Seveso Directive requires safety distances that are greater than that provided from nearby centres of populations on the Shannon.

Further, the existing gas pipeline from the Kinsale field to Inch could be used, eliminating entirely the need for the proposed new 25 kilometer pipeline required at the Shannon location.

Storage could also be provided at the Kinsale field which would mean LNG could be used provide at least a quarter of national gas demand or be sufficient entirely for the Cork area.

Consideration in the EIS of off shore sites did not include the Kinsale gas field first suggested by scientists at the International Conference of Renewable Energy in Maritime Island Climate in Dublin in 2006.

Oral Hearing Announced: 21 January 2008, Tralee, Co. Kerry

• The 2006 Paper suggesting this location which was never considered by the developers
• And the resident's concerns in the Irish Times...

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After  the Dundalk Cockle fishery crashed in 2004  through over fishing the dredging boats redirected their efforts to other cockle beds such as those in the South East of the country - and particularly now Waterford.

The Minister for Communications Energy and Natural Resources signed a Statutory Instrument permitting this without an 'appropriate ecological impact assessment' - even though this is required under the Irish Habitats Regulations and EU case law [‘Waddenzee' case C-127/02].

The Irish Regulations were signed on 21st July 2007 but they can be set aside by either house within 28 sitting Dail days. Attempts to raise this matter in Dail debates have failed and the Minister who signed the Order - Eamon Ryan, TD - has now referred FIE to the Minister for Agriculture!

And contact your TD - LoCall phone the Dail switchboard

on and ask for your TD - NOW!

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FIE has written to the Minister for the Environment suggesting that the contaminated silage wrap currently being exported for recycling could contain cryptosporidium oocysts. Silage wraps being collected under the Farm Plastic Schemes are ‘heavily contaminated' with farmyard slurry which has been identified as a possible source of outbreaks of cryptosporidium in Ireland, which can survive for years if left untreated.

‘We have asked the Department, which is currently preparing Guidelines for the Dublin City Council, to reassess the plastics' ‘Green Waste' status because of the self evident widespread contamination of the material with animal manure and  plant material, which may include invasive species and detritus of all kinds that are potential vectors for infection and may have environmental impacts.'

Waste treatment in China where the Department of the Environment says most of this waste is going is extremely primitive and exposes the handlers and the environment to unacceptable health hazards.

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The story of how the Hen harrier became the hostage to the ‘reckless populism of the IFA leadership’ with the areas to be designated reduced from 287,000 hectares to 169,000 hectares. At the demands of the IFA for the ‘constitutional right to achieve optimal returns on your asset’, a further 9,000 hectares of forestry are to be permitted even in the protected areas, though the population fell from 134 to 105 pairs  2000 – 2005 and the Parks and Wildlife Service itself admits that ‘the bottom line is that new planting represents a net loss of foraging habitat'. 

 In four astonishing maps from 1970 to today, track the loss of this bird and the entirely inadequate final areas proposed for protection under the Bird's Directive.

See FNN 177 on 'The vanishing Hen harrier' and the 'consolidation' of the proposed protection areas.

See Our Press Release: ''

Listen to FIE on Midland's Radio looking at the background to the designations and the unsustainable national forestry policy that is now 'out of control'.

 Read our letter to the Minister and the Report in our library.

And see also: Forestry and the fresh water pearl mussel. Irish planting of non-native species in the uplands is now before the European Courts because of the widespread irreversable damage to the Irish environment.

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The objectives of the mission to Ireland were to investigate and respond to several petitions submitted by Irish citizens, while at the same time allowing the Committee to consult the authorities at national and local level about ways in which certain issues raised by the petitioners might be best resolved. These issues include the Dublin Bay Incinerator at Poolbeg; the M3 motorway project at Tara and Lismullen; issues related to drinking water in Galway, Carreroe (An Cheathrú Rua) and Kilkenny; fundamental rights of EU citizens living in Western Gardens Limerick; problems related to the possible discontinuation of water distribution from Bleach Lough; problems of waste disposal and pollution from the Aughinish Aluminium Plant; impact of the N8 toll road on the community of Watergrasshill; illegal quarrying near Carrigtwohill and West Cork; retired farmers' pension schemes; Bio-fuel initiative; respect for fundamental rights and problems of the Irish Mental Health Act; problems related to acquisition of property for non-local residents and people with MS; problems with the Milk Quota regulation as a license or an asset; rest periods for Irish truck drivers; the dramatic situation at Dan Brennan's farm and his shrinking cattle; fluoridation of water and effects on health.

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