Friends' Work

// Press Release

Call for prosecution of Ringfort destruction
The environmental group Friends of the Irish Environment have written to the Minister for the Environment calling for prosecutions to follow the recent destruction of two ringforts in north Cork.

In the letter, the group says it has confirmed with the Heritage Service of Cork County Council the complete levelling of two listed ringforts by a farmer in County Cork. The ringforts were located in the townland of Knockacareagh, near Killmurray in north Cork. The farm was auctioned on 24 June, 2010.

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Friends of the Irish Environment - Call for prosecution of Ringfort destruction
Posted By Tony Lowes on 06/08/2010 ( Reads : 54 ) | Comments (1) | Press Release
Request to President to Convene Council of State
FRIENDS OF THE IRISH ENVIRONMENT

PRESS RELEASE
6 JULY 2010

New Planning Bill protested to President

The environmental NGO Friends of the Irish Environment have written to Mary MacAlesse requesting her to convene the Council of State to consider referring the new Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2010 to the Supreme Court to test its constitutionality.

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Friends of the Irish Environment - Request to President to Convene Council of State
Posted By Tony Lowes on 06/07/2010 ( Reads : 123 ) | Comments (1) | Press Release
CALL FOR WITHDRAWAL OF FAILTE IRELAND CAMPAIGN
PRESS RELEASE
FRIENDS OF THE IRISH ENVIRONMENT
1 JULY 2010


CALL FOR WITHDRAWAL OF FAILTE IRELAND CAMPAIGN

An environmental group has written to the Chairman and CEO of Failte Ireland seeking the immediate withdrawal of their current advertising campaign ‘Meet in Ireland'.

‘This campaign mocks tele-conferencing and instead encourages those involved in business to travel to hotels around Ireland for their meetings. This is in direct contradiction to the Government Policy published this year ‘SmarterTravel', which seeks to use broadband and modern telephone rather than contributing to Ireland's transport carbon footprint.'

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Friends of the Irish Environment -  CALL FOR WITHDRAWAL OF FAILTE IRELAND CAMPAIGN
Posted By Tony Lowes on 01/07/2010 ( Reads : 93 ) | Comments (0) | Press Release
Sligo Airport - High Court quashes permission for runway extension
PRESS RELEASE
FRIENDS OF THE IRISH ENVIRONMENT

4 June 2010


The environmental lobby group Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) welcomed today's decision of the High Court to quash Sligo County Council's grant of planning permission for a runway extension at Sligo Airport.

In August 2009 the Council granted permission to allow the airport to extend its runway by building a platform - 285m long by 160m wide - directly onto Dorrins Strand, an area of outstanding natural beauty which contains two EU protected areas: one for birds and one for threatened habitats. Following a judicial review brought by two local individuals, and supported by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, today Mr. Justice McKechnie rightly quashed Sligo County Council's poor decision.

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Friends of the Irish Environment - Sligo Airport - High Court quashes permission for runway extension
Posted By Tony Lowes on 05/06/2010 ( Reads : 160 ) | Comments (0) | Press Release
Galway By-Pass - Supreme Court decision to end 'cosy practice'?
PRESS RELEASE
FRIENDS OF THE IRISH ENVIRONMENT
4 June 2010


Galway By-Pass - Supreme Court decision to end ‘cosy practice'?


The environmental lobby group Friends of the Irish Environment welcomed yesterday's decision of the Supreme Court to refer An Bord Pleanála's approval for the €317 million Galway city outer bypass road to the European Court of Justice.

‘This first reference of an Irish environmental case to the European Court has the potential to greatly strengthen environmental protection in Ireland'.

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Friends of the Irish Environment - Galway By-Pass - Supreme Court decision to end 'cosy practice'?
Posted By Tony Lowes on 04/06/2010 ( Reads : 150 ) | Comments (0) | Press Release
FIE submission to the EPA Review

In our 2 page submission to the current review of the Environmental Protection Agency, we identify 10 key issues that must be addressed – oversight by the Ombudsman, open complaints, consolidated legislation, transparent procedures, pro active enforcement, addressing cumulative impacts, meaningful penalties, and an end to the retention culture– as well as better definition of its educational role. We quote Dan Boyle:

 

 "I believe that if we had a proper environmental body, a body in which the public had confidence and in which there existed a widespread belief that our environment was being properly protected, then many of our citizens should not feel the need of having to go outside and seek international support for the type of environmental protection we should be doing ourselves."

 

Read The Submission

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Friends of the Irish Environment - FIE submission to the EPA Review
Posted By Tony Lowes on 30/05/2010 ( Reads : 134 ) | Comments (0) | Press Release
GRANTS ‘FORCING FARMERS TO BURN'

PRESS RELEASE
24 MAY 2010

GRANTS ‘FORCING FARMERS TO BURN'

New restrictions on the Single Payments Scheme to farmers are contributing to the wildfires that have devastated thousands of hectares of Ireland's countryside, according to 19 Irish environmental groups.

In a letter today to the Minister for Agriculture, the groups have claimed that as a result of a recent ‘Health Check' of the Single Payments Scheme made to farmers, there is now an economic incentive for farmers to burn scrub land.

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Friends of the Irish Environment - GRANTS ‘FORCING FARMERS TO BURN'
Posted By Tony Lowes on 22/05/2010 ( Reads : 166 ) | Comments (0) | Press Release
Geoinformatics UK References
EXISTING GEO-INFORMATICS IN THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND was funded by the Department of the Environment through the Irish Environmental Network. It details current spatial electronic data held by held by a wide variety of agencies, Government Departments and Universities.

UK REFERENCES

Data Released by UK OS on April 1, 2010
• OS Street View
• 1:50,000 Gazetteer
• 1:250,000 Scale Colour Raster
• OS Locator
• Boundary-Line
• Code-Point Open Meridian 2
• Strategi
• MiniScale
• OS VectorMap District (available 1 May 2010)
• Land-Form Panorama

Policy options for geographic information from Ordnance Survey: Consultation
Published 23 December 2009
Closing date 17 March 2010
http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/corporate/pdf/1411177.pdf

Policy options for geographic information from Ordnance Survey: Consultation - Government Response
Published 31 March 2010
http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/ordnancesurveyconresponse

Models of Public Sector Information Provision via Trading Funds, commissioned by the Department for Business and HM Treasury. Professor David Newbery, Faculty of Economics, Professor Lionel Bently, CIPIL, Faculty of Law, Rufus Pollock Mead Fellow in Economics, Emmanuel College, Cambridge University, February 2008
http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file45136.pdf

 

 

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Friends of the Irish Environment - Geoinformatics UK References
Posted By Tony Lowes on 20/04/2010 ( Reads : 249 ) | Comments (0) | Press Release
FIE PUBLISHES GEOINFORMATICS IN IRELAND
Friends of the Irish Environment have presented EXISTING GEO-INFORMATICS IN THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND, to Conor Lenihan, Minister for Science, Technology, Innovation and Natural Resources and called for the release of substantial OSI [Ordinance Survey Ireland] mapping data free for use.

The Report lists the sources in Ireland of Geoinfomatics - the acquiring, analyzing and visualizing of spatial electronic data. It is accompanied by a Register of contacts for these sources and includes sections on free satellite imagery and free software.

In calling for free for use and re-use of OSI raw data, FIE says ‘The new commercial online services recently announce by Minister Lenihan for the OSI will only further hold back critical economic and environmental initiatives in one of the most rapidly evolving scientific fields'.

In support of the call, the authors cite the English change in policy announced on April 1, 2010 by which almost all unrefined UK OS mapping data is now being made freely available on the internet. English research found that while their OSI would need a subsidy from central government to make up for the loss in revenue, this would be outweighed by a gain of around £168m.

REPORT ON GEOINFORMATICS IN IRELAND | REGISTER | UK REFERENCES

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Friends of the Irish Environment - FIE PUBLISHES GEOINFORMATICS IN IRELAND
Posted By Tony Lowes on 19/04/2010 ( Reads : 148 ) | Comments (0) | Press Release
Group challenges Fine Gael travel tax motion
In an Open Letter to all Fine Gael TDs, the environmental group Friends of the Irish Environment has urged the Deputies to withdraw their Private Members Bill and to reconsider their support for regional airports.

They also urged the Deputies to follow the recommendations of a DKM Report to the Government in 2003 and the McCarthy Report in 2009 to end the subsides for regional airports.

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Friends of the Irish Environment - Group challenges Fine Gael travel tax motion
Posted By Tony Lowes on 22/03/2010 ( Reads : 361 ) | Comments (0) | Press Release
Earth Hour 2010

As Earth Hour 2010 looms closer, a schools ‘virtual torch relay' was launched by the Lord Mayor of Dublin last week at a school in Artane and will end with in a school in Belfast where the Lord Mayor of Belfast will be waiting. The Minister for the Environment launched Earth Hour nationally at a screening of the Age of Stupid in the Lighthouse Cinema in Dublin. And on the night, - aside from the darkening of national monuments and homes around the country - Temple Bar will celebrate Earth Hour with a Trad Night by candlelight. Visit the global Earth Hour page to sign up and help Ireland join more than 100 countries and a billion people in sending a message for climate change action to our leaders.

Read about how the Minister for the Environments speech clashes with Earth Hour   |  Earth Hour Global Page | Irish Earth Hour Page

Switch off your lights for Earth Hour 2010

Saturday 27 March, 8.30pm - 9.30pm

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Friends of the Irish Environment - Earth Hour 2010
Posted By Tony Lowes on 06/03/2010 ( Reads : 248 ) | Comments (0) | Press Release
High Court orders over unauthorised Leitrim road welcomed
Friends of the Irish Environment have welcomed the Order of the High Court against Leitrim County Council's road building in a European nature conservation site. The proceedings were brought by CLEAN (the Cavan Leitrim Environmental Awareness Network) against Leitrim County Council over an unauthorised road building project commenced by the County Council over Boleybrack Mountain, an upland plateau north of Lough Allen in County Leitrim.

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Friends of the Irish Environment - High Court orders over unauthorised Leitrim road welcomed
Posted By Tony Lowes on 27/02/2010 ( Reads : 731 ) | Comments (0) | Press Release
Global launch of Salmon Farm Film
FIE is part of the 25+ groups from Norway, Canada, Chile, Belgium, Germany, UK, and the US to participate in the Tuesday 16th February global launch of "Farmed Salmon Exposed - The global reach of the Norwegian salmon farming industry".

The film is being launched today on YouTube to coincide with campaign events around the 2010 Winter Olympics in Canada. The Pure Salmon Campaign is on the ground to highlight the fact that 90% of Canadian salmon farms are owned by Norwegian companies. Find about the rally this Saturday.

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Friends of the Irish Environment - Global launch of Salmon Farm Film
Posted By Tony Lowes on 16/02/2010 ( Reads : 353 ) | Comments (0) | Press Release
Earth Hour 2010 Kicks Off in China
Earth Hour officially kicked off on February 1st in China with a major show of support from Chengdu, the first city in the country to commit to turning off its lights. Chengdu, among the world's mega cites with over 13 million resident, is the hometown to the Giant Panda, an ancient species that has been living in Chengdu for more than 8 million years and is the symbol of WWF, who promote Earth Hour worldwide.

Earth Hour is the one hour when people across the globe turn out their lights to show how ‘by working together we can make a difference in the fight against climate change'.

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Friends of the Irish Environment - Earth Hour 2010 Kicks Off in China
Posted By Tony Lowes on 03/02/2010 ( Reads : 674 ) | Comments (0) | Press Release
Call for study as Ireland 'left behind in carrier bag levies'

Washington DC has become the latest US city to impose a levy not only on plastic bags but on paper carrier bags as well. The US Capital city follows successful legislation in Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles, and San Francisco as more than 20 bag taxes have been proposed across American cities in the past year.

In a letter to the Minister, FIE points out that international studies that show that paper carrier bags should be included in any plastic bag levy as ‘paper bags have a greater adverse impact than a plastic bag for a number of the environmental issues'.

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Friends of the Irish Environment - Call for study as Ireland 'left behind in carrier bag levies'
Posted By Tony Lowes on 06/01/2010 ( Reads : 610 ) | Comments (0) | Press Release
Paper bag levy call

Plastic Bag Levy - extension to paper carrier bags

The environment group Friends of the Irish Environment has called on John Gormley to extend the plastic bag levy to paper carrier bags.

In a letter to the Minister, FIE claims that international studies that show that paper carrier bags should be included in any plastic bag levy as ‘paper bags have a greater adverse impact than a plastic bag for a number of the environmental issues'.

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Friends of the Irish Environment - Paper bag levy call
Posted By Tony Lowes on 22/10/2009 ( Reads : 1229 ) | Comments (9) | Press Release
GOVERNMENT WARNED ON TURF CUTTING

The Government has been warned that if its ‘unlawful derogations' for turf cutting in nature conservation areas are not withdrawn and enforcement steps not taken to stop the practice it will face a judicial review.

The warning comes as part of Friends of the Irish Environment's submission to ‘The Cessation of Turf Cutting Working Group' established by John Gormley when he announced the continuation of turf cutting in designated areas for 2009.

The FIE submission tracks the derogations which began following the prolonged and strenuous objection from turf cutters after the publication of the list of SAC raised bog sites in 1997.

 

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Friends of the Irish Environment - GOVERNMENT WARNED ON TURF CUTTING
Posted By Tony Lowes on 28/07/2009 ( Reads : 1051 ) | Comments (0) | Press Release
OBJECTION TO ‘INEXPLICABLE' LIFEBOAT STATION LOCATION

PRESS RELEASE
FOR WEDNESDAY 29 JULY 2009

OBJECTION TO ‘INEXPLICABLE' LIFEBOAT STATION LOCATION

An extensive objection has been lodged by a local environmental group to the proposed location of the RNLI Lifeboat station at Castletownbere, Co. Cork.

The station is proposed on recently reclaimed land beside the Bere Island Ferry jetty.

The group's submission emphasies that it has no objection to the project itself but claims that the location ignores the ‘the most congested traffic pattern on the Bearhaven peninsula'.

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Friends of the Irish Environment - OBJECTION TO ‘INEXPLICABLE' LIFEBOAT STATION LOCATION
Posted By Tony Lowes on 27/07/2009 ( Reads : 645 ) | Comments (0) | Press Release
CALL TO PUBLISH NATIONAL MINES RISK ASSESSMENT

Re: Minister of State launches Phase Two works at the Gortmore Tailings Management Facility, Silvermines, Co. Tipperary.

Friends of the Irish Environment welcomed Minister Lenihan's announcement of the progress with the remediation works at Silvermines, Co. Tipperary, but called on the Government to approve publication of the national risk assessment awaiting Cabinet approval.

A spokesman said that ‘A recent study of 52 countries showed Ireland to be second only to the UK in emissions of the potentially toxic lead on a per capita basis. Yet this Risk Assessment, completed in January 2008 to meet an EU 2004 Directive, remains unavailable.'

 

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Friends of the Irish Environment - CALL TO PUBLISH NATIONAL MINES RISK ASSESSMENT
Posted By Tony Lowes on 23/07/2009 ( Reads : 1100 ) | Comments (0) | Press Release
HAULBOWLINE TO FACE HIGH COURT

Friends of the Irish Environment are issuing proceedings against the Minister for the Environment for holding waste at Haulbowline Island, County Cork, without a licence.

Any person or body holding waste for more than 6 months must have a licence under Irish law. A licencewould requite an environmental impact assessment and public consultation.

The current Secretary of the Department of the Environment, Geraldine Tallon, stated in the High Court grounding affidavit when seeking to recover costs from the last operator'sliquidator in 2004 that ‘there is serious environmental pollution at the site in Haulbowline as a result of holding, recovering or disposing of waste'.

This situation has not changed and now the Minister has announced another 'working group' of politicians.

We have repeatedly written to the Ministers involved requesting them to apply to the Environmental Protection Agency for a Waste Licence but nothing has been done. Our solicitors are today informing the Minister of our intentions.

 Read TOXIC ISLAND, FIE's study of this former site of the Irish steel works. In an increasing trend, none of Ireland's 'leading' papers have covered this announcement - except the Belfast Telegraph!

 

 

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Friends of the Irish Environment - HAULBOWLINE TO FACE HIGH COURT
Posted By Tony Lowes on 08/07/2009 ( Reads : 675 ) | Comments (0) | Press Release