Irish Examiner view: Let’s review 1945 rivers legislation

There are many changes Hyde never imagined that we must accept to deliver on today’s environmental obligations.

Deciding on what is an acceptable use of natural resources, especially land, is always political. Decisions are driven by deep cultural beliefs. 

Ownership, under the umbrella of what we call property rights, is decisive as our housing crisis shows only too starkly. At one end of the spectrum, decisions to protect the environment are regarded as unnecessary impositions that stymie business. 

At the other end of the spectrum the very same measures are seen as belated and inadequate. Despite a deepening and frightening awareness of the consequences of unsustainable exploitation of our natural world, especially around carbon-based fuels and our oceans, the gap between those extremes is widening. 

Consensus, like around the curlew, is rare. This chasm is recognised by President Biden’s early reversals of the legacy of four years of the drill-baby-drill presidency.

In Ireland, those of a gung-ho disposition can point to some significant changes like the ESB’s commitment to end coal burning at Moneypoint no later than 2025. That Bord na Móna ended peat harvesting to become one of “Ireland’s leading climate solutions company” is part of that narrative. 

This objective is alive with potential as we have failed to meet targets on renewable energy or emissions. The nascent wind energy hub in Cork Harbour should be a gamechanger in this regard but it is best to wait until promise becomes reality.

The review of the National Parks and Wildlife Service is another nod in that direction though that over-due process is very much at a kick-the-can-down-the-road stage. Those so charged might learn a lesson from a report issued by the National Biodiversity Forum yesterday on the National Biodiversity Action Plan 2017-2021. 

This report, like so many of its predecessors, recorded that “limited progress” has been made on slowing the decline of biodiversity. It reminded us — there is a disheartening ring of familiarity to it — that two thirds of our bird species are on a red or amber endangered list while a third of wild bee species face extinction.

How else could it be in a country where the national herd expands relentlessly? The impact of that expansion, more farm effluent, more fertiliser, and relentless land “reclamation” contradicts in the most obvious ways Bord Bia’s increasingly disingenuous greenwashing. So too does Bord Bia’s promotion of salmon ranching.

The Arterial Drainage Act 1945 still plays a significant role in that herd expansion. Signed into law by President Douglas Hyde 76 years ago when horses were a mainstay on our farms, it is the framework that allows the Office of Public Works (OPW) to “manage” over 11,000km of river courses. 

The OPW’s powers are so sweeping that they have, for many years provoked concerns. Those dismayed by the consequences of far too many OPW interventions have called the legislation a facilitator of a “war on rivers”. 

That unease is exacerbated by a series of flood prevention projects. There are many changes Hyde never imagined that we must accept to deliver on today’s environmental obligations. A review of the functions and powers of the OPW is another to add to a long list if we are to be as responsible as we must be.