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.