Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin: People care about losing the natural world — politics must catch up

Our Independent Advisory Committee on nature restoration found that the Irish public cares deeply about its natural environment and its links to our heritage and culture — people feel the nature-related losses of recent decades acutely

A male swan searches for food on Dunmanway Lake. People feel the nature-related losses of recent decades acutely — declining numbers of wildlife, unsafe swimming waters, diminished access to local green spaces to name just a few of the concerns articulated and highlighted for requiring action. Picture: Andy Gibson

Nature has always been a resource for us in Ireland. Since the first settlers here thousands of years ago, we’ve depended on our land and seas to provide. 

With the creation of the State in the last century, our forests and peatlands gave us much needed revenue and essential natural resources that allowed our fledgling Republic to develop. Our nature infrastructure has enabled a significant global food industry to grow and our national tourism offering very much relies on our image as ‘the Emerald isle’.