The German Ambassador to Ireland, Matthias Hopfner has objected to the scale of plans for a new 53-bedroom hotel in central Dublin.

A hearing into objections against the granting of a licence for a salmon farm in Bantry Bay has heard that, were the development to go ahead, it could prove a “tipping point” for local families who have fished the area for generations.

Westport House in Co Mayo has been bought by a local family who have pledged to retain all staff and spend €50m on developing the estate over the next five years.

Environmental champions who have changed the toilet- flushing habits of hundreds of people and improved water quality in a scenic bay have been honoured for protecting the Irish coastline.

Conservation measures to protect our environment and its wildlife have in many cases proven to be ineffective, with species still declining, writes Gordon Deegan

A question has been raised over plans by US billionaire John Malone to add a new seven-storey 97-bedroom extension to the Hilton hotel in Dublin.

Heritage groups have called for the full implementation of planning laws and for more state funding to protect at-risk historic buildings after one of the country’s finest Georgian villas was gutted in a suspected arson attack.

Dependence on rural dwellers and the farming community to help manage and maintain the countryside has been acknowledged by Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Heather Humphreys.

An Taisce has asked the Government to ignore the “self-styled” experts calling for increased dredging of the Shannon as a response to the recent flooding.

An Taisce says its latest legal challenge to a €69m upgrade of the N86 main road to Dingle is “to ensure things are done properly”.

On-site ecologists will have the power to stop filming of the next Star Wars film on Skellig Michael next week, as Arts Minister Heather Humphreys sought to allay fears of damage to the Unesco World Heritage Site.

Ireland’s heritage watchdog has raised concerns about further filming of Star Wars on Skellig Michael off the Kerry coast.

Plans for a multi-million euro hotel off Dublin’s O’Connell St has run into strong opposition.

Rural towns and villages are being allowed to “wither on the vine”, with An Taisce claiming an overhaul of planning and building policies are needed to preserve country life.

Cheating and giving false information was "endemic" in planning during the boom time in Co Kerry — a county that now has thousands of empty one-off houses, An Taisce has said.

A number of objections have been lodged to a proposal by the National Parks and Wildlife Service to “allow full public access” to the ancient oak woods and rarely glimpsed cascade at the western edge of Killarney National Park.

There are hopes work can soon commence on upgrading one of the country’s top tourist routes, a project that would also include cycleways.

Dublin city centre has been given a clean bill of health for the first time in the 18 years of a national litter survey.

PEOPLE out walking by the sea during the Christmas and New Year period, especially those who hadn’t done so for some time, may have noticed fresh erosion in areas.

SURVEYS regularly show that natural scenery is the big attraction in Ireland but, often, we blissfully ignore gems that are under our noses.

The average fine meted out by the courts for breaches of environmental law such as polluting rivers, ignoring the terms of waste licences, and illegally dumping waste, is a mere €10,000.

The number and size of fines don’t do enough to deter, reports Claire O’Sullivan.

One of Ireland’s most expensive local authority’s has rejected claims it wasted more than €40m on botched planning projects since 2005 by failing to follow its own development plan.

THE high cost of petrol and diesel has forced many people to cut back on their driving, or at least to think a second time before making some journeys. Reduced traffic volumes on our roads, especially at night, has become apparent in the past few years.

An Taisce has called for an independent regulator to be appointed to investigate the planning function of Dublin City Council.

The power of councillors to overturn planning decisions is to be abolished as part of the biggest overhaul of local government in more than a century.

The announcement that Kerry Group will create up to 900 jobs in Kildare within three years provided the ideal backing for the estimated 20,000 farmers demonstrating in Dublin on Tuesday.

LEGAL actions brought by An Taisce and others over the manner in which consents were granted for the Corrib gas project have been settled and withdrawn at the High Court.

AN TAISCE was accused of being anti-rural and anti-development after the planning watchdog lodged appeals against four one-off homes across Clare.

AN TAISCE has objected to plans by Coillte to build a 90-bed nursing home in a forestry in east Cork.

THE last piece in the Dublin to Cork motorway jigsaw will fall into place towards the end of next month.

A SURE sign of a healthy river is the presence of the freshwater mussel which has largely disappeared in Ireland in recent decades.

CRUMBLING homes and abandoned houses are causing havoc in towns, TDs said yesterday, as it emerged there are nearly 1,300 derelict properties around the country.

IRELAND’S forestry, tourism and transport sectors are flouting EU laws by failing to fully carry out environmental assessments, a report has claimed.

CONSERVATION groups have pleaded for action to save the country’s most vulnerable wildlife following a study which shows many animals, plants and habitats are in decline.

SUFFICIENT land for about 1,000 further houses in Killarney has been zoned by the local town council — despite strong reservations by the Department of the Environment and the National Roads Authority.

THE media’s very positive to Enda Kenny’s keynote speech at the Fine Gael ard fheis is not shared by members of the public, the latest televised focus group for RTÉ suggests.

RESIDENTS of a Co Louth village have appealed to An Bord Pleanála a decision to grant permission to a housing development, saying that a well discovered on the site two years ago could be linked to St Bridget.

I REFER to An Taisce’s recent ‘unreserved’ apology to journalist Fintan O’Toole for describing his plan for his holiday home in Co Clare as ‘criminal’ and an ‘infection’ on the landscape.

A couple who fought for 15 years to secure planning permission to develop one of the world’s largest stalactites as a tourist attraction could face another hurdle, it emerged today.

Environment agency An Taisce today lodged an appeal over plans to build a toxic waste burner in Cork harbour.

ENVIRONMENTAL groups in Galway have defended their role in monitoring planning developments in the city after film star Gabriel Byrne said it was being “destroyed” by such works.

AN elderly Killarney woman has forced the local council to remove her picture-postcard shop from its list of protected structures.