Ireland risks fines over nature sites

IRELAND runs the risk of incurring substantial fines if it fails to fully meet an 11-year-old deadline to protect nature sites, the European Commission has warned.

It said it had requested Ireland implement two judgments of the European Court of Justice concerning the protection of natural habitats.

The commission said Ireland has not fully met a 1995 deadline to complete a list of sites to protect its most endangered natural habitats and species — nor has Ireland taken sufficient measures to recover vegetation in uplands extensively damaged by overstocking of sheep from the 1980s onwards.