OPPOSITION politicians are having a field day with the septic tank issue in rural Ireland, gladly joining protesters who are packing village halls in their hundreds to rail against the €50 fee for tank inspections.
WE see them almost everywhere we look, every day, but don’t give them a second glance.
FROM old walkways in Drimoleague in west Cork, to wild flowers on Valentia Island, Co Kerry, heritage and the natural environment are being used increasingly to create jobs.
FEW animals better highlight the urban-rural divide in Ireland than the fox.
BASICS of life, clear water and fresh air, we take for granted.
EVER so slowly we seem to be moving towards a situation where cyclists will be treated as equals to motorists.
HIGH streets and town centres throughout Ireland have come to look the same in recent years, with regular department stores and the brash brand names of largely overseas multiples increasingly dominating the streetscape.
THE Irish landscape, still the main attraction for the seven million plus tourists who come here each year, is just as exquisite in winter as it is in the summer peak season.
JUST as nature abhors a vacuum, society abhors empty spaces: we humans are a colonising species.
IS there a more authentic sound of summer in Ireland than the drone of bees?
ILLEGAL dumping, a dreadful problem in Ireland for years, is getting worse, with the recession being cited as one of the main reasons: some experts now reckon this activity has increased by up to 30% in the past year.
HARD to believe it nowadays, but Ireland had more than 6,000 watermills in the middle of the 19th century.
NEW research shows that painting wind turbines purple could save birds’ lives.
IN spite of a promise of long-awaited action by state agencies and farming organisations against illegal burning on mountains and upland areas, such burning is continuing unabated.
SHY and pretty to look at, deer seem to have a magnetic appeal for people.
ONE of the most heartening trends around the country nowadays is the huge number of people taking part in voluntary litter-picking and other related works to tidy up their neighbourhoods.
OUR tourism promotion bodies are scratching their collective heads to find ways of luring more visitors to our shores.
RISING petrol prices could be good for your health.
LAST week we focused on the perennial issue of gorse fires and the damage they cause to the environment, wildlife and forestry especially.
FOLLOWING large-scale destruction of the countryside by fires, last year, action is being taken to prevent a recurrence before the annual gorse- burning gets underway.
IRISH people’s obsession with the weather, and what ‘it’s going to do’, is not unique.
YOU might think that, in a time of recession, people would make an effort not to waste food.
I HAVE rediscovered the joys of cycling, after decades out of the saddle.
GIVEN our national penchant for destroying the world, it should not come as a surprise to learn that 18% of our native butterflies are in danger of extinction.
TRUST the Americans to come up with novel ways of getting rid of unwanted and wilted Christmas trees in an environmentally-friendly way.
WITH most of the spotlight on the restoration of water supplies, following damage done during the freezing spell, it would be easy to overlook a paramount issue — the quality of the water we drink each day.
SLOWLY, but ever so surely, moves are being put together to develop the 368km River Shannon as one of the country’s greatest natural amenities.
ONE of the expected results of the use of domestic water meters, due to be installed in all households in the coming years, is that people will use less water, already a costly resource that could become scarce before we realise it.
THE Celtic Tiger helped destroy the character of many old villages, but efforts are underway to preserve what’s left and again make villages attractive places in which to live.
IT’S a story that’s rooted in remote places, almost lost in the heather-clad hillsides of the south-west.
THE cold period has concentrated minds on the whole area of energy, especially that which heats homes, offices, factories and places that people frequent.
A FARMING friend doesn’t rely solely on weather forecasts any more. Instead, he observes the behaviour of his animals.
DO YOU want to be connected with the wider world through modern technology – even if it means putting up with occasionally obtrusive masts – or remain in splendid rural isolation?
THIS time last year one story dominated the news – the appalling weather, especially flooding in the west and south, notably Cork.
THERE’S scarcely a town or village in the country, never mind a city, without a so-called ‘problem estate’ in which houses have fallen into disrepair and the overall appearance is shabby and depressed.
THERE are few things people take for granted as much as they do water.
IT’S as inevitable as death and taxes – we are going to have more wind farms as the Government strives to meet renewable energy targets.
THE primal roar of the stags is echoing around the hills and valleys of Killarney these days, confirming the mating (rutting) season for the area’s native Red deer.
TRAILERS full of timber can be seen moving on roads across the country these days, as people secure their wood supplies for winter firing and the unmistakeable whine of the chainsaw echoes through the land.
IT’S the season of mellow fruitfulness with all sorts of superb wild food available after what has been a good year in terms of both heat and moisture, creating ideal conditions for healthy growth.
ANGLERS are being asked to take part in a project which aims to piece together the life story of the fascinating sea trout, a fish about which not that much is known.
WHEN the late US President John F Kennedy first spoke, in 1961, about his plan to put a man on the moon within a decade, he did not know how it was going to be done.
ASK people if they have ever seen a lizard close-up in Ireland and chances are many will reply in the negative.
ONE of the most heartening things to happen in Ireland in recent times has been the heightened awareness of the environment among children who are now leading the way and, indeed, educating their parents on such matters.
IT might sound just like common sense, but if you want people to change their ways and do something different the best way to go about it is to make it easy for them.
IRELAND is neatly placed to become a research centre into the effects of climate change on the oceans and marine life and the knock-on consequences for the fishing industry.
WITH poisoning of foxes and crows now illegal, farmers are being urged to find other ways of controlling pests, especially those that prey on young lambs.
THE real possibility of more local authorities pulling out of waste collection has serious implications and could lead to an increase in indiscriminate dumping which continues to blight the country.
EVEN in a drenching summer in Ireland, there’s no shortage of things to do if you wish to enjoy our natural heritage.
HIKING and walking are now the most popular activity pursuits by tourists in Ireland, with upwards of two million people, including home and overseas visitors, taking part each year.
THE thought of people in 21st century Ireland buying a bottle of water would surely astonish our ancestors who would have looked on a water as a ‘free’ commodity.
SCHOOL holidays are here and the sense of freedom was palpable on the cheery young faces I saw emerging from classrooms last week.
OUR unenviable reputation for being a rain-sodden country doesn’t take in the slightest from the challenge of ensuring the supply and quality of water here are up to standard in the future.
IS there anything that defines the taste of summer better than freshly-picked, juicy strawberries liberally doused in cream?
SOON, the deep red and purple hues of rhododendron will light up the summer landscape but the beauty of the plant conceals the fact that it has become a pest in many areas and literally stifles the life out of other growing things.
THERE’S enough room for everyone, humans and animals, in this country.
WITH summer and, hopefully, prolonged spells of dry, sunny weather ahead, the thought of floods must be the last thing on people’s minds.
IT’S the time of year when, traditionally, hardy men celebrated in song as “peat bog soldiers” would be sharpening the edge on their sleans and heading for the turf banks.
IT’S the stone walls patterning the landscape of the west of Ireland that leave a lasting first impression on many people visiting that part of the country.
A SURE sign of a healthy river is the presence of the freshwater mussel which has largely disappeared in Ireland in recent decades.
ANGLERS and conservationists are mounting strong opposition to moves to change a law that has imposed a complete ban on commercial fishing for sea bass over the past 20 years.
IRELAND could end up paying hundreds of millions of euro in fines unless we divert more waste away from traditional dumping (landfill) and meet EU targets.
DESPITE claims to the contrary by anti-field sports organisations, hares are 18 times more plentiful in areas managed by the Irish Coursing Club (ICC) than at similar sites in the wider countryside, a recent study by Queen’s University Belfast has shown.
IT’S ironic that a time of a year when new life begins to spring forth, we also have large-scale destruction of natural features of the landscape and wildlife habitat, in Ireland.
DESPITE advances in the past 100 years, Ireland remains one of the least wooded countries in Europe with only 10% of our land planted with trees compared to the European average of 40%.
A RECENT visit to the magnificent Dingle Peninsula, on a day when there was a heavy swell in the Atlantic, illustrated yet again the sheer power of the waves that crashed into the jagged coastline.
BY tracking the long sea journey of a salmon from, say, a remote mountain stream in west Cork to distant Arctic seas, scientists can learn much about climate change.
WE’RE being told, everyday by the Government and the EU, that “green” is the way to go, not only in reducing carbon emissions, but also in job-creation.
A SPECTACULAR picture of a humpback whale raising itself out of the sea off Hook Head, in Co Wexford, made it to the front page of this newspaper last Tuesday.
IT has been said that the life cycle of trees is comparable to that of human beings.
AS well as a drop in the price of many goods, the recession has other benefits – the ravaged Irish landscape which has been the victim of a huge amount of destruction since the mid-1990’s is getting a break.
THE countless people that got new laptops, PCs, battery-operated toys, home appliances and any number of other electrical goods for Christmas have an issue – how to get rid of the old items that have been replaced.
IT’S the season for overeating and the time of year when minds are most focused on food.
NEW laws should help curb the rapid spread of non-native invasive plants and animals around Ireland – something that is causing growing anxiety among people responsible for protecting waterways, nature and the environment in general.
FEW people forget the primal thrill of landing their first fish.
IRELAND will be well represented at the UN climate change conference which gets underway in Copenhagen today, with Taoiseach Brian Cowen and representatives of various government departments due to attend, but how have we been performing on the environment in general?
THERE’S less regard in Ireland for laws protecting wildlife than there is in Britain, a man who has been described as the ‘foremost wildlife detective in these islands’, suggests.
Donal Hickey on manipulating cloud to produce rain.
NO matter how well-meaning people might be in their concerns to save the planet, there’s still no better incentive to do something than money.
DURING the summer, the discovery of what some people believed was a sacred tree, in a church grounds in Rathkeale, Co Limerick, led to sensational headlines that set off a religious frenzy.
ONE of the major challenges in the years ahead will be to ensure the water we drink is safe.
AROUND now, people are getting a final chance before the winter to see hedgehogs in their gardens.
INISVICKILLANE, one of the Blasket islands, is generally known for its association with ex-Taoiseach Charlie Haughey who bought it as a holiday retreat.
AS walking becomes an increasingly popular past-time, opening up the countryside been a key issue for lovers of the outdoors.
AN UPSURGE of interest in the outdoors is creating new opportunities for artists and authors of guidebooks on the Irish countryside.
IT’S a startling thought – people are at far greater risk from air pollution in their homes than they are from air pollution outdoors.
UP to fairly recent times, bogs were simply regarded as sources of fuel or useless wasteland.
EVERYONE has heard of the Irish red deer that grace Killarney National Park, not to mention eagles and dolphins, but Kerry also has many other rare and threatened species of animal and plant life.
THE third wet summer in succession – rainfall for July alone was more than three times above normal in parts of Munster and Leinster – again sparks fears of landslides.
IT has often been said that Puck Fair, in Killorglin, is a primitive festival, built around homage to a hairy, long-horned goat, not to mention worship, at the same time, of the god Bacchus.
PEOPLE in areas all over Ireland where wildlife has been under deadly pressure for decades and where some species have either disappeared or are under serious threat, are now getting involved in conservation projects.
AS every Irish schoolboy, and schoolgirl, knows, the Burren is one of Europe’s most distinctive landscapes, with a plant life and heritage dating back 6,000 years.
COD, once the staple of fish-and-chippers both here and in Britain, is in danger of becoming extinct in the North Sea, but there’s hope closer to home.
THE little-known Kerry slug, which hit the headlines two years ago after getting in the way of a proposed bypass road in Ballyvourney, Co Cork, is about to get back in the news.
SOME people may have uninvited guests in their houses, without even realising it.
ONE of the most encouraging things about modern landscape photography in Ireland is, perhaps, its integrity.
YOU’VE just arrived at Shannon Airport from Boston on your inaugural trip to the land of your forebears. You pick up your hired car and, within a minute, are facing your first challenge – a roundabout.
ONE of Ireland’s leading archaeological locations, Lough Gur, in Co Limerick, could soon be designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
FUTURE generations of Irish people may not have to go abroad for the sun, if predictions about climate changes in the 21st century are correct.
THE days are lengthening, and it’s a time that some people head for the bogs and windy uplands, for yet another year’s supply of turf.
A CHANGE of mindset is needed if Ireland is to reach its target of having electric vehicles make up 10% of the car market by 2020.
ONE of the ironies of life is that, sometimes, those responsible for protecting our environment are the very people that help destroy it.
IN RECENT years we’ve heard a lot about the decline in stocks of salmon and sea trout in Ireland and abroad, but less about the plight of the humble eel.
GETTING us all back on our bikes is a challenge Transport Minister Noel Dempsey has set himself.
NOW that the Celtic Tiger has died, the post mortems focus on the economic and property collapses, but the spotlight is beginning to be put on the Tiger’s physical effects on the landscape of Ireland.
THE worst fears people had for wildlife on the Great Blasket Island have been realised, following confirmation that deadly mink have appeared on the island, off the Dingle Peninsula.
IT used to be one of the life’s simple, taken-for-granted pleasures to stand outside in the blackness of night and just gaze at the star-speckled heavens.
HARD times will make for hard choices in the coming years.
THE little Kerry bog pony, which has itself been saved from extinction, is now doing its bit to aid the survival of some bird species.
IRISH creative minds are coming up with ideas to cope with the changing global environment, and, as we mentioned last week, there are huge opportunities for job-creation in green technology.
A SPECIALLY designed weed-cutting machine, which has been introduced to Lough Corrib to tackle an invasive plant, may yet be seen in other parts of the country.
IT was the animal that ploughed the fields, brought milk churns to the creamery, and took the country family to church by trap on Sundays.
EEL stocks in Ireland and Europe are now so depleted as to be under threat, and radical action is needed to ensure the survival of the species.
ONE of the many critical challenges facing the country in the immediate future is the shortage of water, especially in Dublin and other major urban areas.
Donal Hickey says cutbacks are a threat to forest land
RIVERS and canals could have an important role to play in the country’s transport system, north and south.
EAT, drink and be merry, for God only knows what’s coming down the tracks in 2009.
THE Burren is widely regarded as one of Europe’s most outstanding and distinctive landscapes, with a rich plant life and a cultural heritage stretching back 6,000 years.
Donal Hickey says the future of the Shannon is uncertain
Donal Hickey on sustainable communities and a low-carbon future.
Donal Hickey on a photographic exploration of Ireland’s high places.
Donal Hickey on the huge amount of glass being returned
Donal Hickey on protecting wildlife on the Blaskets.
Donal Hickey says it’s time to look beyond the kitchen.
Donal Hickey says local warnings should be heeded
Donal Hickey looks at the reasons for our wet summer.
Donal Hickey on a threat we need to take seriously.
YOU need only stand on a beach to get a feeling of energy all around you — sun and wind on your face, the power of the waves, the ebb and flow of the tides. But, very little of that energy is being harnessed.
Donal Hickey on the resurgence of interest in currachs
Donal Hickey reports on the fate of the golden eagle in Ireland and Scotland
HARD to believe, but the day may soon come when the clash of the ash, and the unmistakeable thud of wood whacking a sliotair, will no longer be heard in the playing fields of Ireland.
Donal Hickey says Ireland needs to cater more to cyclists.
Donal Hickey sings the praises of the great outdoors.
Donal Hickey on developers’ failure to deliver services.
Donal Hickey learns how uisce beatha is truly the water of life.
AS water becomes scarcer in Ireland, the clamour to charge domestic users for this most essential, though taken for granted, of substances is certain to rise.
ENOUGH people to fill Croke Park five times over will take to the highways and byways during April, picking up rubbish recklessly and shamelessly thrown to the four winds.
PEOPLE driving daily into cities and towns to work might think traffic moves slowly, but it will get slower.
A STRANGE-LOOKING fish, caught off the south-west coast last summer, has been tracked to the Bay of Biscay.
PUPILS in the Black Valley primary school, deep in the Kerry hills, are well aware they live amidst exquisite wild beauty. Given the environment in which they learn it’s not surprising nature walks and art are an important part of their curriculum.
Donal Hickey on the huge growth in fish consumption in Ireland.
IN the chill days and long, wintry nights of January it’s worth noting two startling statistics: around 60,000 Irish households are estimated to live in ongoing fuel poverty and a further 160,000 experience occasional fuel poverty.
AMAZING the conundrums the world of nature throws up. We have a situation in the Burren, Co Clare, where a campaign is underway to save a herd of Old Irish goats, while 12,000 miles away in New Zealand the conservation authorities are intent in wiping out another ancient breed of goats.
THERE was a time in Ireland when people made a wonder of the fact that households in America could have one, two, or even three cars.
UNLESS they’ve been abroad on skiing holidays, many young Irish people have never seen a real heavy fall of snow, or extended periods of winter frost.
IT MAY seem ironic, but developers of golf links in sensitive coastal areas are hoping Environment Minister John Gormley will listen more favourably to their case than Fianna Fáil ministers have in recent years.
Donal Hickey says organic food sales continue to rise
SEVERAL sightings of magnificent fin whales off west Cork, this month, offer further testimony that the area is becoming one of the top whale watching destinations in Europe.
PEAK demand for electricity is set to increase by 200 megawatts this winter, equal to the needs of 130,000 houses.
THE idea of tracking conjures up images of those old western films, with cowboy John Wayne yelling at Indian scouts to find which route the baddies took in their efforts to escape a silver-starred sheriff and other officers of the law.
Donal Hickey on the consequences of energy consumption.
HALLOWE’EN is almost here, a time when long nights and more hours of darkness are ushered in. But, in a world that has become obsessed with light, there are many urban areas where darkness scarcely exists any more and the sight of star-speckled skies is a rarity.
HOPES are again being raised of a major gas find in a huge area in the Atlantic, about 150km off the west and south coasts.
AS our eating habits change, more and more of our food comes wrapped in various forms of aluminium. For instance, more than 90 million aluminium trays are used each day in Ireland, a staggering figure by any standards.
THE little known Kerry Slug has crawled its way into the spotlight following a recent decision to re-route a small section of a major new roadway linking Cork and Kerry.
AT one time, mink coats were fashionable among stylish folk, but the animal that provided them has now become a pest in parts of Ireland.
PEOPLE that regularly drive past a school in the morning, or mid-afternoon, must be asking themselves: Does any child walk to school any more? These are the times of the day when you’ll find traffic jams outside practically every school in Ireland, causing hazards not only to other road users but also to children who weave in and out between vehicles.
RARELY has bird life in Ireland been receiving such publicity. Eagles, kites and hen harriers are all making headlines and attention could now be turning to the plight of songbirds which are facing a relatively new threat.
IF present trends continue, there could be an extra million people living in Ireland by 2021.
EVEN with dreaded climate change it’s a case of every cloud having a silver lining — for some.
DOES Fungi, the famous Dingle dolphin, speak with a Kerry accent?
PEOPLE regularly travelling the roads of Ireland cannot but notice the number of wild animals being run over.
DURING the current August bank holiday, it’s safe to say that more people are out walking than on any other weekend in the year.
UP TO 80% of litter in the countryside is deliberately thrown out of passing cars, a recent survey has shown.
IF THE Green Party doesn’t deliver on its environmental policies while in government, its pious words voiced in the powerlessness of opposition will surely come back to haunt it.
AT a time of large-scale use of pesticides in gardens, it’s strange that one of nature’s great pest controllers is coming under threat from such chemicals.
JUST as the presence, or absence, of fish can tell us a lot about the quality of water in rivers andlakes, butterflies are known as an indicator species for measuring changes in the environment.
Donal Hickey on efforts to boost the domestic market
SUMMER is here and so are the jet skis. Bathers, and others who flocked to the beaches during the recent warm spell, complained about the dangers of motorist craft in the water.
SOME things most definitely never change — the compelling beauty of Killarney, hordes of American tourists alighting from buses, boats on the lakes and the age-old Gap of Dunloe.
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