IRELAND, especially the south and west coasts, is now regarded among the best places in the world for watching whales, dolphins, sharks and many other large sea creatures.

GIVEN the millions of cubic metres of rain that have fallen this summer, it can be difficult to get across the fact that water — no matter how plentiful it appears to be — is a precious resource.

WE’VE come a long way from the days when cod liver oil was dosed in unwelcome spoonfuls to children and carrageen moss was sampled by ageing grandmothers, who seemed to find it more palatable than we did the oil.

THE flooding that devastated parts of Cork and other places was unexpected, coming as it did in the final days of June.

ANYONE who has ever taken part in a local litter clean-up knows wrappers for sweets, chocolate, biscuits, crisps and chips account for a large amount of the rubbish that blights the countryside.

THE upland countryside where the counties Cork, Kerry and Limerick meet continues to be a place where rare and threatened species of wildlife can still be found.

A RECENT column on difficulties in getting children to play outdoors and learn to appreciate the natural environment led to a big reaction from readers.

WE hear a lot of talk about Ireland’s priceless environment and heritage.

MANY European cities are advancing plans to combat the effects of climate change, with some coming up with novel proposals that could be of interest here — especially in the wake of the huge damage caused by floods in Cork and several other Irish urban areas in 2009.

CHILDREN do not play enough outdoors and are not experiencing nature, and this affects their health, a number of studies show.