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<p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/202028903@N06/">nmeyjkdc57</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/202028903@N06/55506927425/" title="Derry"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55506927425_b734b86dc3_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="Derry" /></a></p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/eigjb/">eigjb</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/eigjb/55506336026/" title="ET-BCS Boeing 737-8 Max Ethiopian Airlines"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55506336026_9017e39aee_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="ET-BCS Boeing 737-8 Max Ethiopian Airlines" /></a></p> <p>Dublin Airport, 29/08/2026</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/eigjb/">eigjb</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/eigjb/55506280889/" title="T-787 Global 7500 Swiss Air Force"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55506280889_c91cab72d0_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="T-787 Global 7500 Swiss Air Force" /></a></p> <p>Dublin Airport, 02/09/2026</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/foreignoffice/">Foreign, Commonwealth &amp; Development Office</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/foreignoffice/55505730123/" title="Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband visits Ireland for Gymnich"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55505730123_1e9a85aa00_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband visits Ireland for Gymnich" /></a></p> <p>02/09/2026. Dublin, Ireland. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband meets with Finland’s Foreign Minister, Elina Valtonen after visit Ireland for Gymnich. Picture by Ben Dance / FCDO</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/204989852@N08/">jemonfou</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/204989852@N08/55505608221/" title="SEASONS: AUTUMN 2024, D3 MEADOW, CODEY&#039;S COTTAGES, OSSARY ROAD, DUBLIN 3"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55505608221_19a2585f59_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="SEASONS: AUTUMN 2024, D3 MEADOW, CODEY&#039;S COTTAGES, OSSARY ROAD, DUBLIN 3" /></a></p> <p>SEASONS: AUTUMN 2024, D3 MEADOW, CODEY'S COTTAGES, OSSARY ROAD, DUBLIN 3<br /> <br /> For the ReViewing Ireland project, the seasons are as follows:<br /> <br /> DEC, JAN, FEBWINTER<br /> MARCH, APR, MAYSPRING<br /> JUNE, JULY, AUGSUMMER<br /> SEPT, OCT, NOVAUTUMN<br /> <br /> If you walk along Ossary Road in the North Strand, keep going around the curve in the road at Crosbie’s Yard apartments, then walk to just before the bridge that enters East Wall, to your left is what ReViewing Ireland has called ‘D3 Meadow’. It is a patch of disused ground – a derelict site – that has grown wild. Most of the photographs for ReViewing Ireland were taken looking over the high walls alongside this small area, some through the gates.<br /> <br /> Looking for somewhere local to where I live to photograph the seasons, there are many options, not least Fairview Park and the Royal Canal. So why choose this odd forlorn patch of ground? For a start, I had often looked into it as I passed by and loved the seasonal colours, and how nature never abandons ground even when humans do. Secondly, there were whisperings locally that soon this patch was to be loaned to the community for a public garden, to include a sensory garden, an organic vegetable garden, teaching children how to grow food, how to plant trees, and providing a place for events as well as simply a place for locals and visitors to spend time outdoors. I hoped this would happen over the course of the year, inviting biodiversity and carbon capture into an urban inner city environment.<br /> <br /> What actually happened is that the patch became increasingly neglected, rubbish was deposited over the walls, some rubbish set of fire, with evidence of anti-social behaviour. The first photographs were taken in May 2024, and the last in April 2025. By April 2025, the gates I could once look through had been reinforced with panels, so we could not see what was behind them, and some clearing of rubbish from the site had taken place, a heap of it lying on the public pavement outside, as you will be able to see for yourself in one of the photographs. <br /> <br /> For ReViewing Ireland I decided to caption the D3 Meadow photographs for the season they were taken only, and say very little else. I think they speak for themselves, once you read this general caption and know they were all taken looking into a derelict site.</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/204989852@N08/">jemonfou</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/204989852@N08/55504603542/" title="LOUTH: Omeath Biodiversity, Louth, 14 March 2025"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55504603542_12a893dd0b_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="LOUTH: Omeath Biodiversity, Louth, 14 March 2025" /></a></p> <p>LOUTH: Omeath Biodiversity, Louth, 14 March 2025<br /> <br /> The off-site biodiversity garden polytunnel and planters.<br /> <br /> ‘Omeath Biodiversity’ was created by Omeath District Development to: Identify, protect and promote the diverse species of plants, animals, birds, wildlife, fauna and flora of the area; promote environmental awareness and practices in the community; share knowledge, ideas, projects and photos on the Facebook platform and to protect the Omeath environment for future generations to enjoy.<br /> <br /> Omeath Biodiversity works in partnership with Omeath Tidy Towns on strategic plans, with success collaborating on a number of recreational and aesthetic enhancements for the village. Operations headquarters are in the Dolmon Centre in the heart of the village.<br /> <br /> Amongst the initiatives is a bio garden at the Dolmon Centre, community orchard planting, an off-site biodiversity garden, a ‘Healthy Minds, Healthy Bodies’ programme, gardening courses, bat walks and swift Boxes at Dolmen Centre<br /> <br /> A Community Biodiversity Action Plan was created with a grant from The Community Foundation for Ireland (CFI) Environment and Nature Biodiversity programme. Omeath District Development CLG were successful with their grant application to Community Foundation Ireland. They partnered with Simon Barron, an Ecologist with BEC Consultants Ltd, for this project to bring together the plan since 2019. <br /> <br /> The Community Biodiversity Action Plan (CBAP) for Omeath is intended to work towards the promotion and celebration of biodiversity within the village and the surrounding area and to provide a plan by which the biodiversity can be enhanced. It was therefore important that all of the Omeath area be covered by the CBAP.<br /> Ray Hunt, who met me on behalf of Omeath Biodiversity, is an artist who is hugely involved in local biodiversity projects. Here is some of what he said to me:<br /> <br /> ‘We have a lady called Ros who is very knowledgeable about everything to do with gardening and the environment, and all of the laws that have been passed. So she is our main gardening expert. We had someone else come up and give a talk on bats, and she had bat detectors, so we could hear the bats coming in as they were making this sort of noise that they make, you know, for direction finding, and we discovered a lot of bats on that evening. <br /> <br /> ‘If we walk up the village I can show you where we do parts of the gardening classes, telling people about sort of little mini environments, what's known as pocket forests. A Japanese gentleman started it off. He realised that when you planted a forest in the normal way, it took so many years for it to come up. So what he planted instead is these little pocket forests – tiny forests – planting everything really close together and it literally grows maybe two or three times as fast as a large forest. <br /> <br /> ‘We've got another lady over the mountain had 300 native trees for planting, so she's given them out to some of us just to plant wherever we want. <br /> <br /> ‘There is an education component with gardening classes for adults and children. We demonstrate to people how to grow their your own food, organic vegetables, things like that, including organic fruit trees. There is kind of a sense that if people learn how to grow these things, they will become a little bit self-sufficient.’<br /> <br /> After a cup of tea in the Dolmon Centre, and a walk up the village to see some smaller planting and street furniture, Ray took me to the off-site biodiversity garden. To get to it you walk about ten minutes uphill out of the village, and it is contained in a large field surrounded by farm land. What I found heartwarming and extraordinary is that Ray in fact owns this land, but has given it to the community. When I asked if he had made arrangements for the community to hold on to it after he is gone, he tells me yes, he has. Cliché that it is, some people are just great.<br /> <br /> Because I am visiting on 14 March, I meet planting season. I can see lots of fledgling trees have been planted, which will eventually be the orchard. There are pear, apple and cherry trees. In outdoor plots I can see broccoli and last year’s leeks. The polytunnel is used for germinating but also some people grow peppers and melons that need a lot of heat to grow. There is a compost heap, herbs, wildflowers, bee hotels, bird boxes. I ask Ray who comes up here, and he says anybody who wants to can but he is there regularly. <br /> <br /> Travel: Enterprise from Connolly Station to Dundalk (took 7.40am first class and had to pay for coffee and got no free newspaper!), then walked c.20 mins to Long Walk Bus Station and got the 161 Newry bus to Omeath. It goes the long scenic route and was a beautiful bus ride <br /> Weather: 9/2 degrees Celsius, sunny with clouds<br /> Airquality: 1 Good (Station 23, Dundalk, Co Louth)</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/204989852@N08/">jemonfou</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/204989852@N08/55505605356/" title="WEXFORD: Brigid Carroll’s Dairy Farm, Ballinakill, 1 May 2025"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55505605356_0c33b19ef0_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="WEXFORD: Brigid Carroll’s Dairy Farm, Ballinakill, 1 May 2025" /></a></p> <p>WEXFORD: Brigid Carroll’s Dairy Farm, Ballinakill, 1 May 2025<br /> <br /> Silage for feed for dairy cows on Brigid Carroll’s dairy farm in Wexford.<br /> <br /> Dairy cows being herded from one field to another, with a few hours left to milking. Brigid Carroll is a dairy farmer based in Ballinakill in Wexford, not far from Gorey. Her farm is visible from her home nearby, and her husband Joe O'Brien's farm is at the back of their house. They run the farms completely separately. They have two daughters, and two sons. The dairy farm belonged to Brigid's father, then it was passed on to one of her brothers who sadly died young. Ultimately, Brigid's mother left the farm to her when she died aged ninety. Brigid love dairy farming, but does find it relentless in so far as it puts demands on you seven days a week. Herself and her husband have no worries about succession, as their son Michael O’Brien has an Agri Science Degree and works alongside them. Recently, however, Brigid got involved in her local co-op, the opposite of winding down! The farm avails of various grants, like the ACRES grant, and there's one for women dairy farmers. For example, she needs to put in another tank once she gets planning permission, and there's a 60% grant for that. 'You have to have everything right.' She says, 'and we are achieving that. Every penny we get we pump back into the farm'. Dairy farmers get bad publicity for polluting the water, but Brigid is one hundred percent about keeping water on the land clean. She incorporates clover into the grass so uses less chemical nitrogen if clover in a grazing field as cows can't handle the red variety. She says it is in the interests of farmers to do this, because chemical fertiliser is not cheap at €600-650 a tonne. She is also careful about when she spreads slurry, telling me the dry sunny day we are there to meet her would not be a good day for it because it would stay on top of the ground and become caked. Brigid is signed up to catchments.ie, a website that shares science and stories about Ireland's water catchments, and and people’s connections to water. The dairy farm has a wealth of wildlife: foxes, hares, badgers, grey squirrels, herons, egrets, kingfishers, buzzards, swallows. She says there is a local gun club, but she doesn’t allow them on her land. <br /> <br /> Travel: Lift to farm with Ian Brunswick, EPA. Return bus from Gorey.<br /> Weather: 21/8 degrees Celsius / sunny <br /> Air Quality: 2 Good (Station 24, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford)</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/204989852@N08/">jemonfou</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/204989852@N08/55505605981/" title="LONGFORD: Longford Town Mall Walk, Longford, 20 February 2025"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55505605981_36536d9e48_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="LONGFORD: Longford Town Mall Walk, Longford, 20 February 2025" /></a></p> <p>LONGFORD: Longford Town Mall Walk, Longford, 20 February 2025<br /> <br /> Grey Wagtail in The Town Mall Park, Longford. A widespread resident along fast flowing streams and rivers throughout Ireland, this photograph being a case in hand as it perches beside the River Camlin. [Birdwatch Ireland]<br /> <br /> The Town Mall Walk in Longford is a walking trail on a loop of about 2.6km along the river Camlin in the town centre, providing an important lung to the town and recreation facilities, as well as a place for people to spend in nature. It runs along housing estates to one side, and is an impressive example of leaving green spaces in any town or urban district. The park has a children’s play area, basketball courts, outdoor bowls, exercise equipment and all-weather football pitches. The Town Mall Park is also known as The Albert Reynolds Peace Park, after the Longford-born Irish Taoiseach (1992-1994), Albert Reynolds. <br /> <br /> What is especially striking is the many different species of birds, including many I saw with my own eyes on the day I visited, which was 20 February: Blackbirds, Robins, grey wagtail, sparrows, moorhens and the common chaffinch. Others listed as resident are the swift, mallards and teal. As a bird lover, I was immediately entranced by this veritable haven for birds from the moment I entered the park along a narrow path. Birds darted from hedge to hedge either side of the path, or foraged in the long grasses beneath the hedgerows, and so my camera was immediately set to a high shutter speed to capture them for this project visit. <br /> <br /> In the centre of the park is the sculpture ‘Timelessness’ is by the local artist Gary Robinson. This stone circle was created between 1999 and 2000 to celebrate the arrival of the new millennium. Three of the stones are marked, while the fourth has been left for someone to sculpt at the dawn of the next millennium. <br /> <br /> Transport: Train from Dromod to Longford<br /> Weather: 12/10 degrees Celsius, sun with clouds<br /> Air Quality: 1 Good (Station 43, Longford Town, Longford)</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/204989852@N08/">jemonfou</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/204989852@N08/55505605426/" title="MEATH: Biodiversity Trio, Dunsany Nature Reserve, Meath, 6 April 2025"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55505605426_1069b4661f_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="MEATH: Biodiversity Trio, Dunsany Nature Reserve, Meath, 6 April 2025" /></a></p> <p>MEATH: Biodiversity Trio, Dunsany Nature Reserve, Meath, 6 May 2025<br /> <br /> Dunsany Estate butterfly on a sunny day in Spring.<br /> <br /> ‘We thought that the bees may leave since the tree fell down, but it doesn't seem like it. Now that the tree has fallen down, the canopy has disappeared. One of the things you're going see living here is how whole areas change because of disturbance. Natural disturbance is normal. Animals disturb. Because what we're not looking for is a pristine paradise, because that's not what reality is. Reality is we need damage, we need disturbance.’ – Randal Plunkett<br /> <br /> In March of 2024, Irish Tech News reported on a landmark biodiversity deal between a trio consisting of Coffeeagnel, Dunsany Estate in Meath and an Irish clean-tech company called Bionua. The deal saw Coffeeangel commit 5% of its profits over the next five years to buy biodiversity credits, with Bionua measuring the benefits scientifically and the Randal Plunkett of Dunsany gaining funding needed to further benefit Dunsany Nature Reserve, and Ireland’s environmental targets. It was the first deal of its kind in Ireland and the second in Europe. <br /> <br /> Coffeeangel is a well-known coffee shop with nine branches in Ireland, eight in Dublin and one in Monaghan. It is owned by Karl Purdy and his wife, Caroline Sleiman-Purdy. Karl says, ‘Coffeeangel is contributing 5% of profits to help fund Dunsany biodiversity projects, but the message we are trying to communicate is that it is actually our customers that are facilitating this. Not us.’ Coffeeangel have a track record in commitment to sustainability, running their shops on renewably sourced energy and using local produce where possible. They created the ‘YourCupOurFuture’ programme and use fully recyclable packaging. <br /> <br /> Bionua deploys and invents cutting-edge technology to monitor nature in real time to produce scientifically sound data. It can accurately quantify carbon sequestration and biodiversity above and below ground. William Butterly, founder and CEO, explains that most of our biodiversity is invisible, being beneath ground level. Biodiversity Credits produced by Bionua are to the ISO 14064-2 Standard and independently verified by a third party. By purchasing biodiversity credits, organisations can also take nature-positive action to contribute to the conservation of ecosystems, protection of endangered species, and promotion of overall biodiversity, while also meeting their environmental and sustainability objectives.<br /> <br /> The historic Dunsany Estate in Meath spans back to the 11th century and covers a vast area of 1600 acres (650 hectares). Within this expanse, Lord Dunsany, Randal Plunkett, has set aside approximately 750 acres (300 hectares) to rewilding, forming the core of the Dunsany Nature Reserve. Randal Plunkett says of this partnership: ‘The reality of it is there are people on all levels doing different things for the environment, but what we have here is probably the most, should we say, novel idea: a new model in which businesses can contribute. I am excited to see, with the contributors here, what the next five years is going to be like. Because if you told me ten years ago that companies would be looking to do things like this, I wouldn't have believed you.’<br /> <br /> When ReViewing Ireland interviewed young award-winning environmentalist, Luke Gibbons, for this project, Luke said he figured companies that didn’t become involved in environmental imperatives would not survive, in a similar way that companies that did not embrace the internet revolution – the computer revolution – did not survive. In a similar vein, Randal says, ‘I'm not a business person – I wouldn't probably be doing this if I was a business person – but one thing I have seen amongst business people, because I do mix in some of those circles, is that just like species in nature, the creature that doesn't evolve or is not willing to evolve doesn't survive.’<br /> <br /> Travel: Bus to Dunsany, short walk to Dunsany Estate <br /> Weather: 15/0 degrees Celsius, sunny with clouds<br /> Airquality: 1 Good (Station 68, Navan, Co. Meath)</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/204989852@N08/">jemonfou</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/204989852@N08/55504604347/" title="DUBLIN: National Photographic Archive, Temple Bar, Dublin, 3 April 2025"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55504604347_e4fc22d9b8_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="DUBLIN: National Photographic Archive, Temple Bar, Dublin, 3 April 2025" /></a></p> <p>DUBLIN: National Photographic Archive, Temple Bar, Dublin, 3 April 2025<br /> <br /> The National Photographic Archive has samples of Victorian portrait photographs beautifully preserved in pressed leather cases. Many of these are daguerreotypes. <br /> The Daguerreotype camera captured the first ever picture of a human being, at Boulevard du Temple in Paris, in 1838. The patent was publicly announced on the 19th of August, 1839, when the French government presented the Daguerreotype process as a gift ‘free to the world’. The patent and public announcement was by one of its French inventors, Louis Jacque-Mandé Daguerre. An exception to it being free to the world was England, where anyone who wanted to use the it had to pay for a licence to practice. It was patented in Scotland, too, but never enforced. <br /> <br /> Daguerreotype portraits are usually displayed in a decorated case, and this photograph shows the outside of one such treasure.<br /> <br /> Ambrotypes are also an early form of photography where a positive image is created from a glass negative. They came into being in the mid-1950s as a cheaper alternative to daguerreotypes. Both are a positive image, but the former is printed on a translucent glass plate, whereas a daguerreotype is printed on a polished silver plate. <br /> <br /> The National Photographic Archive in Temple Bar, Dublin, holds the photographic collections of over five million photographs belonging to the National Library of Ireland. The archive was opened in 1998, and the ground floor area of the premises in Temple Bar is a gallery and a reading room. The storage area is in the basement, as is the work area.<br /> <br /> A small percentage of these are catalogued and only a small percentage of those are digitised. The library runs an appointment system for members of the public looking for access, and process written requests from people needing digital images for books, magazines, scholarly work and much more. <br /> <br /> On the day I too this and other photographs for ReViewing Ireland, I met with Archivist, Nora Thornton (Assistant Keeper) who showed me around. On a previous visit I met with Elizabeth Kirwin (Curator, Assistant Keeper Conservation), who was also generous with her time. <br /> <br /> Transport: Cycled from home<br /> Weather: 14/6 degrees Celsius, Mainly sunny with clouds<br /> Airquality: 3 Good (Station 69, Pearse Street, Dublin 2)</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/204989852@N08/">jemonfou</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/204989852@N08/55505759859/" title="DONEGAL: A wind turbine rotor graveyard at Killybegs docks, Donegal, 21 January 2025"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55505759859_280818e7e8_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="DONEGAL: A wind turbine rotor graveyard at Killybegs docks, Donegal, 21 January 2025" /></a></p> <p>DONEGAL: A wind turbine rotor graveyard at Killybegs docks, Donegal, 21 January 2025<br /> <br /> Meenbog Windfarm, a 19-turbine development near Ballybofey in County Donegal was intended to help power Amazon’s Irish operations. Construction began in late 2019.<br /> On 13 November 2020, a major bog landslide occurred at the site. Large amount of peat slid down the hillside and ended up in the Mourne Beg River near Castlederg in County Tyrone, in Northern Ireland’s jurisdiction. The Mourne Beg is a key spawning river for Atlantic salmon, a protected species. <br /> <br /> When Thomas Pringle, an independent Donegal TD, raised the incident in the Dail he said concerns about the wind farm had been well flagged by environmentalists, and that images of the landslide, which was caught on video, made for &quot;stark viewing”. A spokesperson for the Ulster Angling federation (UAF) stated it was one of the largest pollution events in the history of Northern Ireland and Ireland, and that anglers were devastated. <br /> <br /> The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at the time considered legal action against those responsible for a landslide at the construction site of the wind farm. EPA inspectors visited the site before Christmas 2020 and at that time considered invoking the Environmental Liability Directive. EU law gives the agency powers to order remediation works to be carried out, recover the costs of the works and the losses caused, and to prosecute for any failures to comply.<br /> <br /> “The EPA is the competent authority for enforcing these regulations. The ELD (Environmental Liability Directive) is relevant to the Donegal bog slide, as there is a Special Area of Conservation very close by,” the agency said.<br /> <br /> Shortly thereafter, a multi-agency cross-border group was established to coordinate various enforcement actions. Construction on the site was suspended with the exception of safeguarding maintenance measure. Following directions issued by the EPA to the windfarm developer, an updated assessment of peat stability on the site was undertaken and independently evaluated by expert consultants engaged by the EPA. <br /> <br /> The rotor blades in this photograph are those intended for use on Meenbog Windfarm. The towers are to be found in another ‘graveyard’ not far away, uphill from the docks.<br /> <br /> Transport: Bus to Letterkenny, Expressway 32<br /> Weather: 10/6 degrees Celsius, clouds and sun<br /> Airquality: 1 Good (Station 64, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal)</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/204989852@N08/">jemonfou</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/204989852@N08/55505986185/" title="CAVAN: Headfort Bog, Virginia, Cavan, 9 February 2025"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55505986185_e08b02c2f0_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="CAVAN: Headfort Bog, Virginia, Cavan, 9 February 2025" /></a></p> <p>CAVAN: Headfort Bog, Virginia, Cavan, 9 February 2025<br /> <br /> Headfort Bog is a short distance south-east from the town of Virginia, on the R194. Because I visited with a local, Rosemary Cullen, I know it is called ‘Headfort Bog’, but you will not find this on Google Maps. Therefore I am putting into this caption the coordinates to approximately where we parked, and the bog is straight ahead. <br /> <br /> Coordinates: 53.829560819716065, -7.055017265560841<br /> <br /> It is about 30 minutes walking distance from Virginia to where we parked, and about the same again at a stroll to arrive at the bog. <br /> <br /> The walking path to Headfort Bog is forest-like, tall trees by either side of a narrow road. You can peek at fields through the trees because it’s winter, but once the hedges and leaves grow, even in Spring I think you would not see beyond the roadside. There are some openings, and one of them exposes a view of a field, with a small derelict cottage stood proud in the middle of it. There is no path up to the cottage, giving it the look of a fairy cottage, with deep green grass growing right up to the walls of the house on all four sides. You felt somehow that this had been a happy home, and Rosemary my guide has loved this cottage for a long time. She made a beautiful book of photographs of it all through the seasons. <br /> <br /> Suddenly, there is the bog. A swathe of it fanned out in front of you, As you swan past this first impression, you arrive at the upper part with the bog-face and rows of footed turf left to dry, though some of the cut sods look as if they dried a long time ago. This photograph is one such example, turf stacked on a wooden pallet and long since dried. <br /> <br /> Wooden stakes dotted around Headfort Bog have names of the owners of each patches of turf handwritten on them, as well as the amount of space they own: 4ha, 3 hods, 6ha, 3.5 hods. These signposts are not something I have seen on other bogs, so was glad to capture their use for posterity. After the recent nationwide electricity outages due to Storm Eowyn, there is a new respect for saving your own turf and being able to light a fire, simple as nature intended. This of course doesn’t change the huge carbon footprint of working bogs. <br /> <br /> In Ireland, some bogs like this one are legal and operate with Turbary Rights granted to the locals, in the understanding the turf collected is for personal use, not commercial purposes. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plays a crucial role in regulating and protecting bogs in Ireland, monitoring emissions and enforcing regulation to ensure sustainable management and prevent environmental damage. The EPA has the authority to investigate and prosecute cases of illegal peat extraction. <br /> <br /> Headfort Bog is part of the large demesne that was owned by Englishman, Thomas Taylour [Taylor] (1631–1682). A surveyor by profession, Thomas emigrated to Ireland in 1652 to work with Sir William Petty and the Irish Commission on a survey and valuation of land, the Down Survey of 1653. This map survey was in order for Oliver Cromwell to identify lands owned by Catholics and non-sympathisers of the Commonwealth, and so these lands were confiscated, or stolen as we say in these parts. Taylour purchased unwanted lands following redistribution to Cromwell allies. By 1660 he had secured up to 21,000 acres of land in Ireland, 7,443 acres at Kells in County Meath and over 14,000 acres in County Cavan. Headfort Bog is named for Headfort Demesne, Thomas Taylour’s home in Kells, County Meath, in Ireland. The National Library of Ireland Photographic Collection has many images of Headfort House digitised and available to the public. <br /> <br /> Transport: Expressway 30 bus to Virginia, lift with friend<br /> Weather: 7/1 degrees Celsius, sun with clouds<br /> Airquality: 2 Good (Station 78, Cavan Town)</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/204989852@N08/">jemonfou</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/204989852@N08/55504602672/" title="KERRY: Lucian Horvat at Valentia Lighthouse, Valentia Island, Kerry, 30 October 2024"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55504602672_3db431e57b_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="KERRY: Lucian Horvat at Valentia Lighthouse, Valentia Island, Kerry, 30 October 2024" /></a></p> <p>KERRY: Lucian Horvat at Valentia Lighthouse, Valentia Island, Kerry, 30 October 2024<br /> <br /> Lucian Horvat is CEO of Valentia Island Development Company CLG (VIDCo), with offices based in the Cable Station, Farranreagh, on Valentia Island. The same sprawling building houses the Valentia Island Museum. CLG was formed by a group of people from Valentia Island who were interested in promoting the Island and helping it to be developed in a sustainable way and to make it a better place for future generations to live, work and play. <br /> <br /> Valentia Lighthouse at Cromwell Point is maintained by the Commissioners of Irish Lights and is a harbour light to guide vessels from the sea and lead them through the northern entrance of Valentia Harbour past Harbour Rock.<br /> <br /> ‘ReViewing Ireland’ met with Lucian Horvat specifically to discuss the challenges to the lighthouse due to climate change. Initially I was under the impression erosion was threatening the lighthouse itself. Thankfully this is not so. The challenge is access to the lighthouse. Situated 1km down a steep descent from the main road, a descent that is open to the sea storms from the powerful Atlantic Ocean, recently the access road was resurfaced and strengthened by Kerry County Council. Once you park the car, bike or arrive on foot, there is another pedestrian path to access the lighthouse, and this was completely destroyed in 2016 by Storm Imogen. High tides and strong winds often have a devastating effect on coastal landscapes. Storm Imogen hit Valentia with average wind speeds of between 65 and 75 kph, with gusts of up to 120 kph. Powerful waves swept over Valentia Island, shifting massive rocks and destroying structures in their path, including the path to the lighthouse. The increased incidence of serious storm events is a concern for gaining access to the lighthouse. Lucian explains:<br /> <br /> ‘At the lighthouse there is a concern because of the Atlantic and coastal erosion. It’s a constant concern. The power of the Atlantic is extraordinary. It is very exposed. We managed to work with the local authorities to reinforce the road to the lighthouse, that was done this year. But it is challenging to maintain the building. The tower itself was built in 1841, and then there was a house built there which is a listed building, built about 70 years afterwards in 1910.’<br /> <br /> This photograph shows Lucian at the ticket office and visitor car park, with pedestrian entry though the red gate behind him. The gravel path leads to the path recently repaired, which you can see in another photograph taken the same day. <br /> <br /> Lucian is passionate about this lighthouse, and lighthouses in general. Not long before my visit Valentia Island had hosted ‘The 2024 Great Lighthouses of Ireland Partners Gathering’, during which they launched their ‘Strategic Plan 2025-2030’. The document covers many issues including how sustainable growth can be delivered by continuing to develop unique experiences for visitors seeking natural and stunning coastal environments. <br /> <br /> Transport: Train to Tralee, bus to Killorglin (279), bus to Cahersiveen (280), lift with Casey Cycles bike hire van (with my bike) to Valentia Island. Lift to Lighthouse with Lucian Horvat<br /> Weather: 12/11 degrees Celsius, cloudy<br /> Airquality: 3 Good (Station 45, Valentia Observatory, Caherciveen, Kerry)</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/204989852@N08/">jemonfou</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/204989852@N08/55505985400/" title="WESTMEATH: Milltownpass Bog (NHA), Pass of Kilbride, County Westmeath, 4 March 2025"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55505985400_6ea0290a5a_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="WESTMEATH: Milltownpass Bog (NHA), Pass of Kilbride, County Westmeath, 4 March 2025" /></a></p> <p>WESTMEATH: Milltownpass Bog (NHA), Pass of Kilbride, County Westmeath, 4 March 2025<br /> <br /> Construction of Clonfad Solar Farm, just outside Milltownpass and close to Milltownpass Bog (NHA). The other side of the road has completed solar installations as well as the site yard with offices.<br /> <br /> <br /> ReViewing Ireland went to visit Milltownpass Bog on 4 March, 2025. It was recommended by Steven Skeldon from the National Library of Ireland (NLI), who lives nearby, and he provided the coordinates. I cycled to the site, which is the best way to get an overall view of and feel for any area, urban or rural. I arrived at Milltownpass village hoping to purchase a bar of chocolate and some water, only to find the shop, the pub and the undertakers no longer trading, and just at the outskirts a Tyre &amp; Service Station making use of the now defunct hearse to advertise its ‘Used Body Parts For Sale’, and ‘End of Life Cars’. It was a cold day, I wanted chocolate, and so the chuckle was welcome.<br /> <br /> The first thing I saw on the Pass of Kilbride – the road out of Milltownpass village – was a gate to my right with a ‘GREEN BELT LIMITED’ sign on it, indicating managed forestry. Green Belt are a company that pride themselves on nature-based forestry solutions. Next, and also on my right, I saw a large area of peat bog, and in the distance, wind turbines. Only a few metres further, to my left, was Milltownpass Bog, a Natural heritage Area (NHA) that is part of the government’s raised bog restoration programme with Bord na Móna. Straight ahead was Clonfad Solar Farm, with one area already in operation, and a larger area under construction. Bang in the centre of this 1km radius I saw an *Brandname* Irish Moss Peat articulated lorry being filled with peat from three or four huge mounds, for all the world resembling a major quarry. I saw that the peat was being extracted from the large area of bog already mentioned.<br /> <br /> A healthy peatland captures CO2 from the atmosphere through photosynthesis, and locks in vast quantities of carbon. Restoring bogs, by locking in carbon, can help to offset Ireland’s overall CO2 emissions, and in fact is a major component of our efforts to reach our EU targets. In 2022, scientists estimated peatlands were emitting the equivalent of 1-2 billion tonnes of CO2 worldwide, which is around 2–4 per cent of all human greenhouse gas emissions. To put this in context, In 2018, aviation accounted for 2.5 per cent of worldwide carbon dioxide emissions. <br /> <br /> Following a long legal and planning battle since the early 2010s, the 2019 High Court ruling made it clear that companies engaged in large-scale peat extraction need planning permission and EPA licensing, both of which involve a thorough environmental assessment process required under EU law due to the climate and biodiversity impacts of peat extraction.<br /> <br /> It is a shocking experience for someone like me to come across an area where all around me, there are efforts to reduce carbon emissions, yet right in the middle of this, carbon emissions on a grand scale, likely way more than the carbon emissions reduced by the bog, the solar farm, the wind farm and the managed forestry all around it combined. But first, what are the current ‘rules’. <br /> <br /> Differentiation is made between scale of peat extraction, divided into those less than 10ha, 10-30ha, 30-50ha, and over 50ha. <br /> <br /> Over 50ha, Planning Permission (PP) is required, and a licence from the Environmental Protection Association (EPA), an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and an Appropriate Assessment (AA). For 30-50ha, PP and EIA are required and, where applicable, AA. Less than 30ha, PP, EIA and AA required where the activity is likely to have significant effects on the environment. This site undergoing commercial peat extraction looks to be in the region of 15ha, but that is just a guess.<br /> <br /> I sought the counsel of EPA experts. The EPA regulates the larger peat extraction activities – over 50ha – while local authorities play a key role in regulating all commercial peat extraction. This means local authorities grant planning permission and are obliged to undertake an environmental impact assessment. Thus, this bog ReViewing Ireland came across undergoing commercial peat extraction does not come under the purview of the EPA, but rather Westmeath County Council. The issue in this instance, however, is not solely the legalities but rather the wisdom, and how this kind of carbon emitting activity will be looked upon in 30, 50 and 100+ years’ time by future generations; how it might impact future generations. So long as commercial interests are within their rights and have permission, there is nothing to see here other than the environmental impact, and how regulation or lack thereof can foster that impact.<br /> <br /> In 2016 the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) published a synopsis of the Heritage Milltownpass Bog site which related the following: Milltownpass Bog NHA is a site of considerable conservation significance comprising as it does a raised bog, a rare habitat in the E.U. and one that is becoming increasingly scarce and under threat in Ireland. Current land uses on the site include peat-cutting, agriculture and forestry. To the east, outside the site, there is intensive commercial peat-cutting, but few damaging operations apart from reclamation of cutover to the west and small scale domestic peat-cutting to the east occur within the site. <br /> <br /> This NPWS synopsis is almost ten years old, and refers to the commercial activity in what seems to be the location I came across. <br /> <br /> It makes sense to question the fiscal wisdom of commercial peat extraction in the context of the fines Ireland faces if we do not meet our greenhouse gas emission targets. Targets aside, it makes sense to question it in the context of catastrophic climate change events that are predicted to get much worse, with many scientists, including David Attenborough, calling it as already too late to prevent the worst of these events. According to a report by the Fiscal Advisory Council and Climate Change Advisory Council, coincidentally issued the same day ReViewing Ireland visited this area of Westmeath – 4 March, 2025 – Ireland could face fines of between €8bn and €27bn. Ireland ranks at this time amongst the worst-performing countries for exceeding its targets of million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (Mt CO2 eq), and has the highest emissions target gap of any EU member state. The Advisory Councils’ report proposed rewetting 80,000 hectares of peatlands for €1 billion or less, which it said could also deliver “massive reductions in emissions at a low cost”. This much land is equivalent to all of Bord na Móna’s peatlands. <br /> <br /> According to the latest projections by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the Republic is set to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 29 per cent only by 2030, meaning on the basis of our current trajectory we are unlikely to meet our 2030 target of reducing emissions by 51 per cent.<br /> <br /> To quote text under the Climate Change tab on the EPA website: “Ireland must invest in structural and behavioural change to enable the transition to a climate neutral, climate-resilient country. These changes include the rapid decarbonisation of energy and transport and the adoption of sustainable food production, management and consumption systems.”<br /> <br /> Behavioural change. That means us, the people. “Believe in the power of your own voice. The more noise you make, the more accountability you demand from your leaders, the more our world will change for the better.” – Al Gore, Former US Vice President and Environmental Activist<br /> <br /> Transport: Train to Mullingar, Taxi to Bloomfield Hotel, e-bike to Milltownpass Bog<br /> Weather: 6/8 degrees Celsius, overcast<br /> Airquality: 2 Good (Station 70, Athlone Civic Centre &amp; Library, Co. Westmeath)</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/204989852@N08/">jemonfou</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/204989852@N08/55504604467/" title="CLARE: Hometree, Dromoland, County Clare, 8 April 2025"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55504604467_8608d0e26c_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="CLARE: Hometree, Dromoland, County Clare, 8 April 2025" /></a></p> <p>CLARE: Hometree, Dromoland, County Clare, 8 April 2025<br /> <br /> Jeremy Turkington, Seed Collector and Seed Bank Coordinator, helping with the tree planting at Dromoland along with Enda O’Brien, one of the volunteers from Hometree’s Spring Experience Week.<br /> <br /> Hometree, as the name suggests, is about all things trees and forests. It was established on the back of the vision of three people, Matt Smith (CEO), Ray Ó Foghlú (Development Lead) and Mitch Corbett (Tree Nursery Manager), to create a forest regeneration centre of excellence built around the best practices, agroforestry techniques, and the most vibrant and healthy organic tree nursery. <br /> <br /> The hedgerows they are planting at Dromoland will grow along a long avenue leading to a house, and will be like dense woodland. They are essential for connecting ancient woodlands to one another. Not far away, across the hill from the site, is Mooghaun Wood, 800 acres of woodland that can be connected to other woodlands with these hedgerows. <br /> <br /> Today, the plan is to plant five tree to the meter, a meter being about the length of the wooden part of the average spade. There will be two rows. In one row, closer to the fence, there will be three trees planted in a row, and in the second row further from the fence there will be two trees planted to the meter. Here, Jeremy and Enda are working together, one planting, one digging. <br /> <br /> Proceeds from the planting of 1500 trees over two days will go towards funding the work of Hometree.<br /> <br /> Transport: Train to Ennis, taxi to Ennistymon, lift with Finnian Flood to Dromoland<br /> Weather: 18/5 degrees Celsius, sun and clouds<br /> Airquality: 2 Good (Station 25, Ennis, Co. Clare)</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/23549726@N06/">NkolaN</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/23549726@N06/55504555932/" title=""><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55504555932_62c0b3ba48_m.jpg" width="150" height="240" alt="" /></a></p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/192240624@N08/">quailcroft</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/192240624@N08/55505901585/" title="Crenellation"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55505901585_c56530d565_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="Crenellation" /></a></p> <p>O'Brien's Tower at Cliffs of Moher, County Clare, Ireland.</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/204903467@N03/">zkbilder</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/204903467@N03/55504280217/" title="DSC_4803"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55504280217_1b30672a95_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="DSC_4803" /></a></p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/204903467@N03/">zkbilder</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/204903467@N03/55505378818/" title="DSC_4626"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55505378818_f6d353330f_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="DSC_4626" /></a></p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/204903467@N03/">zkbilder</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/204903467@N03/55505436024/" title="DSC_4790"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55505436024_122454640a_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="DSC_4790" /></a></p>

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Mark Hazleton has been active in Information Services delivery for over 20 years. Reach Mark at [email protected]

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