Margaret E Ward: ‘Saving the family’ is really about putting women back in their boxes An unholy trinity of conservatives, Christian nationalists and tech bros are planning to strip American women of their rights

‘Saving the family’ is really about putting women back in their boxes

www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026...

Ireland doesn’t have time for wind farm battles Ella McSweeney: A recent verdict showed climate law can’t fix what politics won’t

'And so we get to the real crisis: Ireland’s land-use policy is a fragmented, siloed, splintered mess.'
- Excellent, honest writing, as usual, from @ellamcsweeney.bsky.social

www.irishtimes.com/environment/...

Mark O’Connell: Welcome to the first war of the brainrot era Pumped-up White House videos about Iran conflict are extreme even by recent US standards

www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026...

A Roseate Tern, standing beside a list of seabird jobs being advertised by Birdwatch Ireland.

We are currently hiring for a range of #seabird jobs at @birdwatchireland.bsky.social , with a deadline of 22nd March. If you'd like to join our Seabird team this summer see birdwatchireland.ie/get-involved...

Weaknesses in policymaking: A challenge to the Convention on Education Reviews of the Department of Education have found it to be overworked, reactive, overly absorbed in short-term operational issues and lacking space for long-term strategic thinking

Weaknesses in policymaking: A challenge to the Convention on Education

www.irishtimes.com/ireland/educ...

Under water, in denial: is Europe drowning out the climate crisis? Even as weather extremes worsen, the voices calling for the rolling back of environmental rules have grown louder and more influential

www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...

In One Week, Trump Moves to Reshape U.S. Environmental Policy

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/22/c...

The potential impacts of this deregulation effort are truly devestating.

@npwsireland.bsky.social now seeking tender submissions for #habitat #mapping and habitat condition assessments across the Blaskets Islands, Skelligs, and Puffin Island. Deadline for submissions is 21 October, 2025.

www.etenders.gov.ie/epps/cft/pre...

Mike Murphy: ‘It should have been the RTÉ payments scandal, not the Ryan Tubridy payments scandal’ Broadcaster talks about Roy Keane and the mothers of Cork, angry Trumpite golfers and finding a fan in Martin McGuinness

Mike Flippin' Murphy, indeed! Mike's cadence and distinctive tones lit up this interview. Always a class act, my parents had fond memories of him dining in the restaurant - several pictures adorned the walls in pride of place. Thank you, @roisiningle.bsky.social

www.irishtimes.com/life-style/p...

‘It’s all over’: The uphill struggle to revive Europe’s shrinking rural populations Across the continent, remote villages are fading amid declining births and residents departing for jobs in urban centres

‘It’s all over’: The uphill struggle to revive Europe’s shrinking rural populations

www.irishtimes.com/world/europe...

A lovely thread, with interesting snippets on the importance and values of trees in the Brehon laws, reflecting their cultural and practical significance to Irish society of the time

#booksky #dadjokes

Fintan O'Toole: At a time when the boom is even boomier, this statistic should mortify us The stark fact is that there are students sitting Junior and Leaving Cert exams today who went to bed hungry last night

At a time when the boom is even boomier, this statistic should mortify us

www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...

Warming accelerates global drought severity - Nature Increased atmospheric evaporative demand in recent years has increased drought severity by an average of 40% globally across both dry and wet regions, and the trend is likely to continue under future warming scenarios.

Nature research paper: Warming accelerates global drought severity

https://go.nature.com/45alUJe

Ireland to ratify high seas treaty and scale-up marine-protected areas, Taoiseach tells UN summit UN secretary general António Guterres urges world leaders to move ‘from plundering to protection’

Ireland to ratify high seas treaty and scale-up marine-protected areas, Taoiseach tells UN summit

www.irishtimes.com/environment/...

Where are Ireland’s ‘sitting ducks’ - the places most vulnerable to extreme weather? Cork is ‘very, very vulnerable’, but Dublin, Galway, the east coast and areas along the Shannon are also at high risk

Where are Ireland’s ‘sitting ducks’ - the places most vulnerable to extreme weather?

www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...

Funding rapid action to combat invasive alien species in Europe  - IUCN SOS Invasive alien species remain one of the biggest causes of biodiversity loss and species extinction. These non-natives animals, plants or microorganisms are

The IUCN is launching a €2.1M EU-funded Rapid Response Fund to tackle invasive species across Europe. 💸

Grants of €10–50k for urgent action, plus training and expert support. First call opens June 2025. 🫰

👉 Find out more: iucnsos.org/funding-rapi...

#Bioinvasions #EUGreenWeek #SavingOurSpecies

Why is Ireland planning to all but give up on protecting its waterways? Ella McSweeney: The Department of Housing is proposing to give up trying to restore or naturalise many of our rivers

Ireland’s plan to weaken legal protections for waterways will push many of them beyond recovery

www.irishtimes.com/environment/...

Speaking rights for Michael Lowry would not be on my list of issues critical to our democracy Row is yet more evidence of politicians’ preoccupation with trivia as storm clouds gather abroad and housing crisis worsens at home

Speaking rights for Michael Lowry would not be on my list of issues critical to our democracy

www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...

‘The Polynesians loved him’: the astonishing revelations that cast Paul Gauguin in a new light He has been tarred as a French colonialist who spread syphilis to underage girls in the South Seas. But, writes the author of an acclaimed new book, fresh discoveries challenge this view of the artist...

www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

Departing the New York Times I left to stay true to my byline

open.substack.com/pub/contrari...

Decline in nitrate levels and sewage pollution found in Irish coastal areas Coastwatch survey finds nitrate levels were lowest since 2012, while raw sewage discharges also declined

www.irishtimes.com/environment/...

action does lead to change if implementation reaches critical mass - but change is only real if those actions are sustained and become ingrained

Spanish fishers in Galicia report ‘catastrophic’ collapse in shellfish stocks Climate crisis and pollution reported as possible reasons for dramatic fall in numbers of cockles, clams and mussels

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

Sandeels vs the EU: how the puffin’s favourite food sparked first post-Brexit courtroom trade battle This week the EU will argue the UK’s ban on catching the tiny fish, celebrated by conservationists, amounts to discrimination against Danish fishers

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

The EU is on the wrong side in this one, both ecologically and ethically (and some might suggest economically 👉 2012 Lenfest Report)

How to do Managed Retreat, and how not to.

First look at how the French are responding to flooding in the Pas de Calais.
Houses built on flood wplains will be demolished and the area will absorb water during floods, protecting the higher density city of Blendecques.
#Climate #Adaptation

Window to stop decline of England’s nature closing fast, watchdog says Office for Environmental Protection calls for urgent action after finding government is falling short on most targets

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Rewilding: A meaningful response to tackling the biodiversity crisis The concept is an eco-centric approach which is nature-led and human-enabled

Rewilding: A meaningful response to tackling the biodiversity crisis

www.irishtimes.com/environment/...

Eamon Ryan: Political science can’t trump climate science. Here are 4 key tests for the new government The scale and speed of change required to tackle climate issue is unprecedented and not always immediately popular

Political science must not trump climate science. Here are the key tests for the new government

www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...