A RECENT decision by An Bord Pleanala, to give planning permission for road improvements to a wind-farm site near Rockchapel, Co Cork, highlights access problems.

Recent studies into wildlife in Ireland have thrown up some interesting findings, with more people now taking note of what is emerging from universities and research institutes.

THE fascination of American visitors with Irish castles is well known, and the fact that they don’t have attractions stateside which are as old might be part of the reason for this.

ONE of the more interesting innovations in Irish tourism in recent years has been the development of abandoned railway lines as greenways for cyclists and walkers, helping to make ecotourism a key niche market.

Much is being made of the destruction of bogs and the need to protect what little remains of Ireland’s once vast peatland areas.

IT looks like being a bumper season for wild berry pickers, probably due to the good mixture of heat and moisture which boosted growth during the summer. A profusion of blackberries has resulted.

IT is argued that Ireland would have few laws to protect our environment and wildlife if the EU had not imposed legislation on us.

Protection of dolphins and other wildlife was among the key conditions under which planning permission was recently granted for a combined heat and power plant on the Shannon Estuary.

MANY people will be taking to the outdoors over the next seven days during National Heritage Week for which no less than 1,700 events have been organised.

THE vast majority of children view wildlife on television, before they see it in reality. But there’s still something magical about the moment a child sees for the first time an animal up close and which they also love to touch, if possible.