Category Archives: Irish Focus
Good grief: grappling with eco distress
The feature piece below appeared in this week’s Business Post Magazine, under the heading ‘Distress signals from Earth: the new condition of ‘eco-grief’. This is a subject that has long been close to my heart and no doubt for most … Continue reading
Can the farmer and the environmentalist really be friends?
The piece below ran in the Farming Independent in early September. It started out life as a rebuttal of a recent piece by a Findo columnist and dairy farmer, which did a lot of indignant huffing and puffing about an An … Continue reading
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 emissions, Extinction Rebellion, Green Party, Paris Agreement, politics
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Ambitious climate programme agreed by Irish political parties
My analysis piece for DeSmog UK was published on June 17th, as the parties concluded negotiations on a new Programme for Government. Ironically, while receiving much positive coverage internationally in terms of the degree to which the PFG is seen … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Irish Focus
Tagged Catherine Martin, CCAC, DeSmog UK, Eamon Ryan, Green Party, Holly Cairns
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Political disconnect from environmental reality remains
When it came to climate and environmental issues, the political parties’ manifestos were a mixed bag indeed. On a positive note, these issues have moved from being almost universally ignored as recently as the 2016 election, to being front-and-centre in … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus
Tagged Election 2020, Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Green Party, Sinn Fein
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Climate Change is (Sort of) Affecting Ireland’s Election
My pre-election analysis of where the parties stood on the climate issue was published on Desmog.uk. LAST MAY, Ireland was among the first countries in the world to declare a climate and biodiversity emergency. In September, over 20,000 students took … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Global Warming, Irish Focus
Tagged Election 2020, Frank Mitloehner, Green Party, IFA, Sinn Fein
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Mitigate, Adapt, or Suffer – stark choices in Election 2020
Below, my article, as it appeared on Green News on January 24th, ahead of Election 2020. GENERAL ELECTION 2020 must be the ‘Climate Election’. As the global climate and biodiversity emergency deepens, it is surely inconceivable that Irish politics can … Continue reading
RTÉ finally spins spotlight onto concerted climate action
Over the last decade and more, I’ve been in an uncomfortable position regarding RTÉ. On the one hand, I’ve long been a stout defender of public service broadcasting as a vital bulwark against total domination of our media landscape by … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media, Sceptics
Tagged Climate Week, DCU, Irish Times, JOCCA, RTE
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
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How flawed logic puts the world in danger
Below, my review of ‘The Irrational Ape’ by David Robert Grimes, which was published in the Irish Times on September 22nd last. In an era of fake news, with crackpot theories and conspiratorial nonsense ricocheting around social media at dizzying … Continue reading
Posted in Irish Focus, Media, Psychology, Sceptics
Tagged David Robert Grimes, Homeopathy, Quacks
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Why you should take to the streets with your children
Below, my article as it appeared in the Irish Times on September 20th, to coincide with the Student March for climate, which saw some 20,000 take to the streets of Dublin, with thousands more joining protests in cities and towns … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media, Sustainability
Tagged Children's Strike, Extinction Rebellion, Greta Thunberg, OPEC
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Eerie media silence as climate breakdown gathers pace
Below, my article as it appeared in the Irish Times on April 26th last. BY ANY objective standards, the global climate and biodiversity crisis should be front page news almost every day. Rationally, you would expect updates on the battle … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media
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Duck, dither, dodge, delay: the new, improved climate denial
Below, my report as it ran on DeSmog UK on the latest climate denier get-together, involving our old friends at the ICSF, in what is their 10th sort-of-public meeting. For an organisation with no known membership list and no apparent … Continue reading
Incoherent, inconsistent – and not really funny at all
Below, my article as it appeared on DeSmog UK earlier this month. This is my 13th piece to appear on DeSmog since May 2017, when I reported on the inaugural ICSF meeting in Dublin, featuring big-name US denier, Richard Lindzen. … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media, Sceptics
Tagged DeSmog UK, Gavin Schmidt, GWPF, ICSF, Peter Thorne, Ray Bates
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