IS there anything that defines the taste of summer better than freshly-picked, juicy strawberries liberally doused in cream?

SAVING the planet shouldn’t be any big deal.

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.