Home/Posts Tagged ‘Ireland’
Posts Tagged ‘Ireland’
Animal Rights, Videos & Documentaries, Mar 30th, 2012,
Back in 2010 I posted about how bad economic times in Ireland were resulting in a large amount of neglected and abandoned horses in the country. Now Spain, in the throws of economic crisis, is experiencing a similar problem. In Spain, as in Ireland, when cash was plentiful many horse-mad citizens splashed out on having their very own equine companion (or trophy as the case may be). But now that times are tough it’s old Sugar Foot who gets the boot. Curiously, sometimes it’s not old mares that are being, quite literally, put out to pasture, but expensive pure-red Andalucians….
Tags: abandoned, crisis, economic, horses, Ireland, Spain
Politics, Oct 13th, 2011,
A couple of days ago I posted about why the Occupy Wall Street action is Green, quoting various articles by luminaries of both the environmentalist and anti-globalization movements. Besides specific environmental issues being addressed at OWS and other similar protests around the world, the logic is plain: economic and political models based on unrestrained growth, consumerism and unregulated finance and industry are not only unfair and undemocratic, but clearly ecologically disastrous. From dirty tar sands in the North, to dams and deforestation in the South, it’s all connected. Political power in the hands of corporations, rather than people, spells bad…
Tags: Europe, Greece, Ireland, occupy wall street, Portugal, protest, Spain, UK
Politics, Pollution, Videos & Documentaries, Mar 23rd, 2011,
Fossil fuel giant Shell struck up a deal with Ireland’s outgoing Fianna Fail party to construct an onshore refinery and massive gas pipeline in a remote corner of the country. It was one of Fianna Fail’s final acts in power. Locals, many who work in fishing and farming, have campaigned and protested vigorously against the project for some 10 years. They succeeded in getting Shell to reduce pressure levels in the pipe and route it away from the village of Rossport, but are still dissatisfied because of the undemocratic nature of the project and the fact that the plans will…
Tags: gas, Ireland, pipeline, protest, refinery, Shell, the pipe
Climate Change, Politics, Sep 28th, 2010,
Currently Northern Ireland produces 10% of its energy from renewable sources, primarily on shore wind farms. After Scotland threw down the gauntlet and announced an 80% renewable energy target for 2020 and Wales pledged to increase the amount of energy they produce from green sources by 200%, its now Northern Ireland’s turn. Though not as ambitious as Scotland’s, NI new energy plan puts their target at 40% renewables by 2020. From a BBC News report: Reaching the target will need large offshore wind farms, tidal turbines like Seagen in Strangford Lough and even using energy from controversial sources including waste…
Tags: energy, Ireland, northern, renewables, Scotland
Climate Change, Politics, Wildlife & Flora, Sep 18th, 2010,
Ireland industrialized and urbanized both later and to a lesser extent than many other European countries. It is known for its beautiful green countryside and pastoral villages and is considered to have low pollution levels in terms of water and air quality. Yet Ireland lost most of its forestland long ago due to the widespread establishment of agriculture. This put stresses on the survival native species, but hedgerows, riverbanks and other ‘green corridors’ still enable vestiges of Ireland’s native ecosystems to survive. The scale of Ireland’s forests have grown in recent years to cover around 10% of the island, yet…
Tags: Climate change, Comhar, ecosystems, government, green infrastructure, Ireland, Irish, Maguire, report
Green living, Sep 9th, 2010,
Stories of dogs and cats being abandoned due to tough economic times – or cruel indifference because they’ve simply become inconvenient – are unfortunate, but familiar scenarios. The abandonment of pets has even transformed the local ecology in parts of the world: an estimated 150,000 Burmese pythons live in the Florida Everglades and several London parks are chock full of exotic parakeets which originate in Africa and India. Ireland has its fair share of invasive species, but horses are not considered one of them. However, thousands of unwanted horses are some of the latest casualties in the global economic downturn…
Tags: abandoned, abandonment, animal, cruelty, downturn, Dublin, economic, horses, Ireland, Irish, neglected
Green living, Politics, Jul 10th, 2010,
Yesterday was named ‘fish dependence day’ by the New Economics Foundation (NEF); marking July 9, 2010 as the date that Europe ate its fish quota for the year in terms of sustainability. A new analysis by the NEF entitled ‘Fish Dependence: The Increasing Reliance of the EU on Fish From Elsewhere’, highlights the unsustainable nature of the fishing industry in relation to Europe’s consumption. From yesterday forward, Europe will be in essence, living off of non-European fish. From a UK Press Association report: If the EU were only to consume fish from its own waters it would run out 189…
Tags: Day, dependence, EU, Europe, fish, fishing, Ireland, NEF, stocks, sustainable, waters
Conservation, Wildlife & Flora, Jun 29th, 2010,
According to a BBC News report from May, rats are the top invasive species in Europe. This should come as no big surprise as the crafty, rapidly multiplying rodents are everywhere and seem to thrive in any environment that contains people. The more people, the more rats. Surprisingly however, they haven’t even been in Europe for that long. The brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) is found across Europe in all habitats except high mountain ranges. It was believed to have been introduced in the 18th Century as maritime traffic increased. –BBC News Brown rats muscled out native rodent species, but also…
Tags: Asian clam, biodiversity, Brown, environment, Europe, grey, invasive, Ireland, native, rat, rats, species, squirrel
Climate Change, May 5th, 2010,
Several airports in Scotland and Northern Ireland stopped all flights at 07:00 BST this morning, with more airport closures in those regions planned for this afternoon. The culprit is, of course, Iceland’s Eyafjallajökull volcano, which has proceeded to emit ash into northwestern European skies. Changing weather conditions such as the strength and direction of winds have and will continue to affect air traffic conditions over the British Isles. For more details on airport closures and ash cloud conditions see this BBC report and the Guardian‘s Iceland volcano news blog, which is updated as things happen. by Graham Land
Tags: airports, ash, cloud, flights, Iceland, Ireland, volcano
Climate Change, May 4th, 2010,
Air traffic over the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and some parts of Scotland has been affected by a new plume of ash erupting from the Eyafjallajökull volcano on Iceland. All flights to and from airports in Ireland were grounded from 07:00 BST and announced by Nats to resume at 13:00. Air traffic was halted at airports in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides on Monday at 18:00 BST and is expected to resume some time this afternoon. From a BBC News report: The decision to lift the restrictions followed safety tests that showed the engines could cope in areas of low density…
Tags: air, airports, ash, disrupt, Eyafjallajökull, flights, Iceland, Ireland, Scotland, traffic, volcano
Climate Change, Nature, Wildlife & Flora, Mar 17th, 2010,
Today is a day for busting out all the green clothing you can find and celebrating all that is Irish. Parades are happening, taverns and pubs are overflowing, and many places (and even people) are decorated with shamrocks. Well, perhaps everywhere but Ireland itself. It may sound strange that the country St. Patrick’s Day is all about would not have the most iconic symbol associated with the holiday (apart from Leprechauns). However, it’s with good reason—or, perhaps, a rather bad reason. Right now, Ireland is actually going through a shamrock shortage. Severe winter weather tore through the Celtic country and…
Tags: Climate change, Ireland, Irish, severe weather, shamrock shortage, St. Patrick’s Day, wearing the green
