Agreement has been reached on quotas for fish stocks for the coming year, following two days of negotiations at the EU Council of Fisheries Ministers, in Brussels.

That the Madrid climate talks ended with an inconclusive agreement and a decision to ask countries to be more ambitious in cutting greenhouse gas emissions to realise the 2015 Paris accord shows we have, to use David Axelrod’s all-too-apt phrase, passed the swimsuit stage of international negotiations on climate change.

This evening, as some delegates at the Madrid climate conference stroll along Puerta del Sol, someone somewhere will be crouched over a keyboard assuring the world that climate collapse is a swizz.

Anyone travelling the roads at this time of year will inevitably note examples of crude hedge-cutting. And the irony is that local authorities, which should be prime protectors of the environment, are often responsible for this.

Plans for a new two-way cable car system for Dursey Island have been opposed by Friends of the Irish Environment group.

An environmental group has warned that a €7m tourism project to promote Dursey Island in west Cork will threaten the existence of an endangered species of bird.

The curlew is on the brink of extinction in Ireland unless the Government invests significant resources in protection measures.

Your guide to what's going on in the gardening world this week.