Just shows what idiots we can be - Killarney National Park

THE ongoing confusion around the status of Killarney National Park as a Unesco world biosphere reserve and efforts to extend that status to an area five times the size of the current park epitomise our less than admirable and too often dishonest attitude towards the environment.

We seem to want the marketing benefits and revenue such an enviable status might confer but are far less enthusiastic about observing the disciplines around habitat protection and waste management that status, if it is to be secured on a long-term basis, requires.

As is usual, we seem to want to have it both ways.