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Reposted by Catherine Coxon

An Taisce @antaisce.bsky.social · 14h

@saveladyislandlake.bsky.social hosting important public meeting at 7pm on Nov 17 at Lady’s Island Community Centre on nitrate pollution.

An Taisce's Head of Advocacy & freshwater expert @elainemcgoff.bsky.social will be speaking on the science behind this ecological crisis.

#SaveLadysIslandLake

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Reposted by Catherine Coxon

Elaine McGoff @elainemcgoff.bsky.social · 17h

Urban wastewater treatment is the 4th greatest pressure on Irish water quality. Some of that could be fixed by infrastructure, but almost half of the pollution is due to poor operational management.

The solution is not less environmental scrutiny.

www.irishexaminer.com/news/politic...

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Reposted by Catherine Coxon

Friends of the Earth Ireland @foeireland.bsky.social · 4d

Join us at the National Climate March!

We’ll be marching for climate justice, urging the Government to put people before big polluters ✊

Learn more ➡️https://www.friendsoftheearth.ie/news/lets-march-to-put-people-before-polluters/

🧵1/

Join the National Climate March

It's time to put People before Big Polluters!

www.friendsoftheearth.ie

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Catherine Coxon @catherinecoxon.bsky.social · 3d

Of course this comment is from the water quality perspective, and it's going to be important for the next NAP and Regulations to also consider wild bird needs and agricultural feasibility, while ensuring that water quality can improve in catchments and estuaries such as the Barrow and Slaney.

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Catherine Coxon @catherinecoxon.bsky.social · 3d

We found that natural regeneration was less effective than a planted cover crop in reducing nitrate leaching, especially in the absence of autumn cultivation - I think the original decision not to specify a planted cover in the Regulations was probably a pragmatic one based on costs for the farmer.

Figure 3 from Premrov et al. (2014), Science of the Total Environment 470-471, 967-974.

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Catherine Coxon @catherinecoxon.bsky.social · 4d

Targeting measures according to soil type and groundwater vulnerability seems the best way forward. Cover crops are an important way to reduce nitrate leaching in very free draining sandy soils whereas birds’ needs could be given precedence in areas with heavier soils?

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Reposted by Catherine Coxon

Friends of the Earth Ireland @foeireland.bsky.social · 6d

New poll shows public want energy prioritised for housing and essential services, not data centres.

People see data centre growth as threat to Ireland’s energy and water supplies, and ecosystems, and want Big Tech to be regulated

www.friendsoftheearth.ie/news/new-pol...

New poll shows public want energy prioritised for housing and essential services, not data centres | Friends of the Earth

New poll shows public want energy prioritised for housing and essential services, not data centres  People see data centre growth as threat to Ireland’s energy and water supplies, and …

www.friendsoftheearth.ie

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Reposted by Catherine Coxon

Paul Price @swimsure.bsky.social · 6d

In their Letter to the Editor published in the Irish Times @irishtimes.com, the scientists set the record straight by rebutting multiple errors in John FitzGerald's opinion piece last week:
"Framing the debate as a false dichotomy...distracts from the real choices"
www.irishtimes.com/opinion/lett...

Screenshot of the first half of a letter published in the Irish Times – Letters to the Editor, October 26th, 2025.

Text reads:
"Climate change and farming

Sir, – In his recent article “Cutting the entire cattle herd to reduce emissions makes no economic sense,” Prof John FitzGerald usefully acknowledges the scale of change required in the Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sector.

However, his article misrepresents our recent study, National temperature neutrality, agricultural methane and climate policy: reinforcing inequality in the global food system.

First, FitzGerald writes that “some of these scientists also argue that Ireland should essentially end all livestock production”, and implies that this is advocated in our study. That is incorrect.

Our study does not call for ending livestock farming. Nor does it make any recommendations about its future structure or scale.

Second, FitzGerald suggests our work advocates a per-capita methane quota. It does not. We presented per-capita methane as a diagnostic to illustrate disparities in methane emissions across countries.

The study does not propose a quota or trading scheme. Our study highlights the risks and uncertainties created for Irish society by the Climate Change Advisory Council’s (CCAC) proposed “temperature neutrality” approach to carbon budgets, which defines climate ambition around a moving target that depends on uncertain future global emissions.

It also exposes the underlying value judgments embedded in this framing, which undermine climate ambition, global fairness, food security and land use policy.

Arguments that hide the scale of the climate challenge behind a flawed national “temperature neutrality” target, and the false premise that Ireland’s agricultural sector is economically optimised and feeding the world, have become increasingly common.

However, they avoid the clear-headed, strategic decisions needed to set Irish farmers up for success in a rapidly changing world.

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"From a global food security perspective, Ireland exports around 90 per cent of its animal-sourced food products, yet less than 1 per cent of those exports reach low-income, food-insecure countries.
Domestically, fewer than half of Irish farms are economically viable, despite the sector receiving billions in public subsidies.
Post-2030, Irish taxpayers will be paying billions of euro to purchase carbon credits from overseas to compensate for missing EU climate targets. Continuation of business-as-usual sells both Irish farmers & society short by failing to invest in our land’s potential to deliver healthy & sustainable food, bio-based materials, energy, carbon removals & ecosystem services.
Our study does not present an extreme position. Instead, it calls for ambitious, Paris Agreement-aligned land use policy with clear targets, enabling Irish society to steer the AFOLU sector toward a sustainable transition pathway.
The potential for a positive, resilient, & diversified AFOLU sector is clearly shown in scenario modelling contained in the yet-to-be-released Land Use Review Phase 2 report completed in May this year.
The question is not whether farming will dramatically change over the coming decades, but how that change can be managed to deliver the most robust, sustainable, & secure outcomes for Irish society.
Framing the debate as a false dichotomy between a flawed climate target and an “end to livestock farming” distracts from the real choices involved in shaping a more sustainable, resilient, & vibrant AFOLU sector.
The climate, Ireland’s farmers, & society as a whole, are best served by ambition, scientific rigour & robust debate on real choices, not by shifting goalposts, or the mischaracterisation of legitimate research & researchers as extreme or anti-farming. – Yours, etc,

Dr COLM DUFFY
University of Galway,

Dr RÓISÍN MORIARTY
University College Cork,

Prof HANNAH DALY,
University College Cork

DAVID STYLES
associate professor, University of Galway

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Reposted by Catherine Coxon

Peter Thorne @peterthorne.bsky.social · 7d

The commission may well acquiesce. Sadly physics doesn’t do discounts or bargains and it keeps receipts. If we want a liveable future for future generations on a world that has a climate even recognisably like ours our energy should be being spent on doubling down on climate action…

Tara Peterman @tapeterman.bsky.social · 7d

www.rte.ie/news/analysi...

Ireland hopes for a discount for missing EU climate goals

Ireland will miss its EU climate targets on agriculture, transport and buildings and likely face financial penalties, but can it secure concessions?

www.rte.ie

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Reposted by Catherine Coxon

John Gibbons 🇵🇸 🇺🇦 🇪🇺 @thinkorswim.bsky.social · 7d

Negotiating or trying to cut a deal with physics really is a mug’s game, as our children will find out soon enough.

www.rte.ie/news/analysi...

Ireland hopes for a discount for missing EU climate goals

Ireland will miss its EU climate targets on agriculture, transport and buildings and likely face financial penalties, but can it secure concessions?

www.rte.ie

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Reposted by Catherine Coxon

John Gibbons 🇵🇸 🇺🇦 🇪🇺 @thinkorswim.bsky.social · 9d

Astounding that the first substantive mention of #climate in entire Presidential election campaign should occur during Catherine Connolly’s acceptance speech, which she rightly labelled an “existential crisis”.

Neither the main political parties nor our national media seem remotely interested.

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Ali Sheridan @alisheridan.bsky.social · 8d

“I will be a president who listens & who reflects & who speaks when it's necessary & a voice for peace..A voice that articulates the existential threat posed by climate change and … that recognises the tremendous work being done, the length & breadth of the country”
Comhghairdeas Catherine Connolly

Catherine Connolly delivers speech after officially becoming Ireland’s 10th president

YouTube video by The Journal

www.youtube.com

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Reposted by Catherine Coxon

Sustainable Water Network (SWAN) @swanireland.ie · 9d

Lough Derg is drifting towards the fate of Lough Neagh, that once great lake now all but dead.

Great article by @ellamcsweeney.bsky.social 👇

www.irishtimes.com/environment/...

Ella McSweeney: Lough Derg is drifting towards the same fate as Lough Neagh

Lough Derg has been so reshaped by pollution that its original character is almost impossible to discern

www.irishtimes.com

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Reposted by Catherine Coxon

Fintan Kelly @fintankelly.bsky.social · 9d

The narrative that environmental regulation in Ireland is constraining business somehow coexists with the reality that a culture of 'light touch' enforcement means you can wipe out the life in a major river like the Blackwater and get away with it share.google/FyTkWv3HV4Sq...

Call for end to 'light touch' enforcement in wake of country's biggest ever fish kill

Salmon Watch Ireland believes the EPA, the IFI, and the Marine Institute were overwhelmed by the scale of the fish kill on the Blackwater River in Cork

share.google

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Catherine Coxon @catherinecoxon.bsky.social · 10d

www.rte.ie/news/connach...

Locals, experts combine to protect Mayo lake's ecosystem

A major community effort is under way in Co Mayo, to safeguard the ecosystem around Lough Carra.

www.rte.ie

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Reposted by Catherine Coxon

Sustainable Water Network (SWAN) @swanireland.ie · 11d

Dec 2020 - Uisce Eireann fined just €2000 for pollution incident in Cavan River.

Feb and July 2023 more pollution incidents from UE on same river. UE fined just €3500 for July incident resulting in fish kil.

Paltry fines not working.

www.irishtimes.com/environment/...

IFI welcomes conviction against Uisce Éireann for sewage pollution of Cavan river

Fine, costs and expenses totalling €7,658 imposed on utility

www.irishtimes.com

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Reposted by Catherine Coxon

Andy Zahn @andyzahn.bsky.social · 23d

Far too often, scrub/brush is treated as a nuisance, hazard, or eyesore, when in fact it is vital habitat and a key component of natural succession.

Eoghan Daltun 🌍 @irishrainforest.bsky.social · 23d

For years, this was part of a path through the land, but it's now an impenetrable tangle of gorse and young trees.

As the trees grow, the gorse and other vegetation will be shaded out, and I'll be able to pass again, but through *rainforest*.

Scrub is how natural forest ecosystems form.

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Reposted by Catherine Coxon

Helen Shaw - Athena Media @athenamediaie.bsky.social · 24d

While we approve more data centres, expand aviation and long-finger tackling systems solutions in agriculture, construction and transport - we see our ability to decarbonise and reduce emissions decline. Government burying the long-term consequences for people #Spéirghorm www.rte.ie/news/busines...

Ireland significantly off track on 2030 climate targets

Ireland has made progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) but the rate of reduction remains insufficient to meet the targets established.

www.rte.ie

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Reposted by Catherine Coxon

Damian Carrington @dpcarrington.bsky.social · 24d

Nestle quietly exits global initiative to reduce dairy methane emissions

#climatecrisis
HT @carbonbrief.org
www.latimes.com/business/sto...

Nestle quietly exits global initiative to reduce dairy methane emissions

www.latimes.com

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Reposted by Catherine Coxon

Sustainable Water Network (SWAN) @swanireland.ie · 25d

SWAN Calls for More Urgent Action as EPA Report Exposes Persistent Sewage Failures

It “shows that more than 40% of the pollution failures are down to issues that could be rapidly addressed such as poor plant operation & inadequate maintenance & training"

swanireland.ie/2025/10/swan...

SWAN Calls for More Urgent Action as EPA Report Exposes Persistent Sewage Failures - Sustainable Water Network

The Sustainable Water Network (SWAN), representing 25 of Ireland’s leading environmental NGOs, has warned that the recent EPA Urban Wastewater Treatment Report [1] demonstrates that pressing failures ...

swanireland.ie

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Reposted by Catherine Coxon

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 27d

News that shocks no one: Carbon offsets do nothing for climate.

Carbon offsets fail to cut global heating due to ‘intractable’ systemic problems, study says

Analysis of 25 years of evidence shows most schemes are poor quality and fail to lower emissions

www.theguardian.com

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Catherine Coxon @catherinecoxon.bsky.social · 28d

Karren on the karst limestone at Lluc, Mallorca

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Mary Mulvihill Association @rememberingmary.bsky.social · 28d

The time has arrived (no pun intended) to announce that the theme for The 2026 Mary Mulvihill Award will be ..... Time ⌛⏰⌚⏱.

We are all very excited to see the different directions entrants will explore with this theme.

marymulvihillaward.ie/2025/10/04/2...

The clock is ticking .....😊

#time

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Catherine Coxon @catherinecoxon.bsky.social · 28d

Karren on the karst limestone at Lluc, Mallorca

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Reposted by Catherine Coxon

Environmental Pillar @envpillar.bsky.social · Oct 1

Budget 2026 must mark a decisive shift and should be the starting point for serious investment in climate and nature projects to meet our legally binding targets and to avoid future costs and pain for the Irish people www.environmentalpillar.ie/government-s...

Government should plan prudently and invest in climate & nature projects in Budget 2026 - The Environmental Pillar

Budget 2026 must mark a decisive shift and should be the starting point for serious investment in climate and nature projects to meet our legally binding targets and to avoid future costs and pain for...

www.environmentalpillar.ie

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