IRELAND has a moral and legal obligation to protect the Burren’s wildlife habitats and biodiversity, Environment Minister John Gormley said yesterday.

Donal Hickey sees new hope for Ireland’s bogland

THE preservation of the Burren in Co Clare, one of the most important landscapes in Europe with a wealth of natural and cultural heritage, will be discussed at a three-day international conference in Ennistymon at the end of this month.

IT MAY seem ironic, but developers of golf links in sensitive coastal areas are hoping Environment Minister John Gormley will listen more favourably to their case than Fianna Fáil ministers have in recent years.

JUST as the presence, or absence, of fish can tell us a lot about the quality of water in rivers andlakes, butterflies are known as an indicator species for measuring changes in the environment.