Category Archives: Agriculture

Time for a Department of Food Security

Food, glorious food. It has been so abundant and relatively cheap in the developed world for so long that it has become largely invisible to us. Where it comes from, what its ecological and carbon impacts and whether we are … Continue reading

Posted in Agriculture, Agriculture, Global Warming, Habitat/Species, Pollution | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

To cut or to cull, that is the question

It’s amazing the power of a single word or phrase. A headline writer in one of the Irish dailies deployed the word ‘cull’ to describe proposals to modestly reduce the total number of Irish cattle in line with our climate … Continue reading

Posted in Agriculture, Agriculture, Global Warming, Irish Focus | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Violent words beget violent actions

By and large, Ireland is a tolerant country, spared the worst excesses of polarisation that have blighted post-Brexit Britain and the US after Trump. There has, however, been a creeping slide towards ugly extremism in the last couple of years, … Continue reading

Posted in Agriculture, Agriculture, Global Warming, Irish Focus | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Biosphere buckling under weight of human pressures

Rapid population growth has seen another billion humans added to world population in just the 11 years since 2011. In tandem with dramatic economic growth and accelerating climate change, these are placing unbearable pressures on the biosphere, foreshadowing a near … Continue reading

Posted in Agriculture, Agriculture, Global Warming, Habitat/Species, Irish Focus, Sustainability | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

No national security without food security

We often hear about Ireland’s supposed role in “feeding the world”. The reality is altogether different. Despite the hype, domestic food insecurity is a very real concern in the difficult decades ahead. I explored this issue in detail in a … Continue reading

Posted in Agriculture, Biodiversity, Global Warming | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Do we care enough about nature to bother saving it?

This piece ran in the Business Post in early May, inspired at least in part by the devastating fires that swept many of Ireland’s uplands yet again this Spring, an annual ritual, it seems, that comes around with depressing regularity, … Continue reading

Posted in Agriculture, Biodiversity, Global Warming, Irish Focus | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Climate hoofprint of ruminant agriculture under spotlight

The Farming Independent sought two contrasting views on the merits or otherwise of continued expansion of Ireland’s dairy herd, so I contributed the below, wearing my hat as a volunteer member of An Taisce’s climate committee. This article was published … Continue reading

Posted in Agriculture, Agriculture, Irish Focus, Pollution | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Where greenwashing meet brainwashing

The piece below appeared in mid-December on the investigative website, DeSmog UK. I wanted to shine a light on the subtle agri-industrial marketing machinery which is cranking out ever increasing quantities of material aimed at the youngest and most impressionable … Continue reading

Posted in Agriculture, Biodiversity, Global Warming, Irish Focus | 4 Comments

Agri emissions plan a roadmap to nowhere

In the absence of action, the next best thing is to look busy, and Ireland’s agri-industrial sector and its many boosters in politics and the civil and public service have elevated this frenzy of inaction to something of a performance … Continue reading

Posted in Agriculture, Agriculture, Economics, Global Warming, Habitat/Species, Irish Focus | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Stirring up tensions between farmers and environmentalists

This piece appears  in the current edition of Village magazine. As a rule, I steer clear of articles focusing on individuals, preferring when possible to stick to the issues rather than personalities. Given the central role of RTÉ presenter Damien … Continue reading

Posted in Agriculture, Global Warming, Irish Focus, Sceptics | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Close, but no cigar: Climate Bill comes up short

My report on expert reaction to the eagerly awaited Climate Bill was published for a British audience on DeSmog UK in mid-October. A DRAFT climate change bill designed to put Ireland on a path to net zero emissions has been … Continue reading

Posted in Agriculture, Global Warming, Irish Focus, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Green in name, but not in nature

Despite huge ongoing investment of both political capital and marketing euros in selling the message that Irish agriculture is green, climate-friendly and sustainable, it still keeps on running into the knotty problem that this simply isn’t the case. Recent comments … Continue reading

Posted in Agriculture, Biodiversity, Global Warming, Irish Focus, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

‘Our relationship with nature is broken’

The below piece ran on TheJournal.ie in late September. It was inspired by a combination of the surreal imagery emanating from the western US and the release of the 2020 Living Planet Report, which chronicles ever sharpening declines in planetary vital … Continue reading

Posted in Agriculture, Biodiversity, Global Warming, Habitat/Species | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Better late than never for Irish political action on climate

My take on the Programme for Government and why I think it represents a real opportunity to break the decade-plus logjam on meaningful climate action was published in late June on Thejournal.ie  THE BATTLE FOR the hearts and votes of … Continue reading

Posted in Agriculture, Arctic, Energy, Irish Focus | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Meat & dairy sector turns to chemical industry PR playbook

Below, my article as published on the investigative website, Desmog UK on October 4th. Ireland’s meat and dairy industries have been feeling the heat, both from a public turning increasingly towards vegetarian and vegan options as concern over the environmental … Continue reading

Posted in Agriculture, Agriculture, Global Warming, Irish Focus, Pollution, Sustainability | 2 Comments