Latest news with #StormÉowyn
The Journal
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Journal
Ireland's excessive emissions mean climate goals 'are increasingly out of reach'
This is an extract from the most recent edition of Temperature Check, The Journal's monthly climate newsletter. To receive Temperature Check to your inbox, sign up in the box at the end of this article. As schools wrap up for the summer, the government has been handed a report card of its own: the Environmental Protection Agency's projections of Ireland's emissions in the coming years. The EPA analysed the climate policies and measures that the government is planning to take and how those would impact greenhouse gas emissions between now and 2055. If all of the planned measures and policies are fully implemented, they would reduce Ireland's emissions by 2030 to 23% less than what they were in 2018 – falling far short of the national 51% 2030 target. Not only is the new projection below the target, it's also a decrease on the projection made last year, when the EPA said it expected a reduction of 29% could be made by 2030. Responding to the projections , Minister for Climate Darragh O'Brien said the government has 'made real progress' but is aware that 'we need to move faster to meet our 2030 climate targets'. The projections show Ireland is at significant risk of missing both national and EU climate targets. Advertisement Manager of the Centre for Environmental Justice Clodagh Daly has said the poor progress highlighted by the projections is 'undermining Ireland's capacity to deliver a planned and inclusive transition'. Speaking to The Journal for Temperature Check, Daly said the weak performance is particularly worrying in the context of climate change impacts becoming increasingly visible in Ireland. 'We've seen increased heat extremes, heavy precipitation, storm events like Storm Éowyn, and so it's really concerning that the government is going backwards on its emission reduction obligations,' she said. Fianna Fáil's Darragh O'Brien was appointed Minister for Climate, Environment and Energy and Minister for Transport as part of the new government in January 2025. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo The EPA report compares Ireland's projected emissions with the carbon budgets that were designed to set limits on how much the country emits over five-year cycles. The margins by which the carbon budgets are likely to be exceeded, particularly for the budget covering 2026 to 2030, are staggering. The first budget, which allowed 295 million tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent (Mt CO2eq) to be emitted between 2021 and 2025, is projected to be exceeded by between 8 and 12 Mt CO2eq. The second budget over the subsequent five years is projected to be exceeded by the significant margin of 77 to 114 Mt CO2eq. To put that in context, the total budget for 2026 to 2030 is 200 Mt CO2eq. That means that at the EPA's upper estimate, Ireland's emissions could be more than 50% higher across those years than what they legally should be. Related Reads UN says 70% chance average global warming will exceed 1.5C benchmark in next five years And that's before you even start to look at what it means for complying with European Union obligations. The EPA projects that Ireland will not meet its EU Effort Sharing Regulation target of a 42% reduction by 2030 (of emissions in sectors included under the ESR), instead looking more likely to reduce those emissions by only 22%. 'The problem is that if we continue to overshoot our legislative carbon budgets, the goals of the Paris Agreement and Ireland's Climate Act are increasingly out of reach,' Daly said. 'As the Environmental Protection Agency has repeatedly warned, any overshoots of the budgets will have to be compensated for in subsequent carbon budgets, and that makes it really difficult to achieve.' The Centre for Environmental Justice, which is based out of the Community Law and Mediation legal centre, already has two active court cases against the State over what it argues are shortfalls in previous iterations of the annual Climate Action Plan. 'The State already is facing the legal consequences of not staying within the carbon budget,' Daly said. 'One case is challenging the Climate Action Plan 2023's failure to sufficiently detail how it will reduce emissions in line with the carbon budget program,' she said. The other case sees the legal centre joined by a grandfather, a youth climate activist and a child to challenge the 2024 plan for 'failure to reduce emissions in line with our carbon budget programme, and that, as a result, we claim that there are fundamental rights breaches under the Constitution, the European Convention on Human Rights, and the Charter of Fundamental Rights'. 'We're not asking the court to impose any kind of sanction in terms of financial penalties. What we're asking the court to do is to strike down the plans as they are and for the government just to go back, review the plan, and develop a new one that actually is aligned with the law.' Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Climate
- Irish Times
My coastal trees and shrubs were damaged by Storm Éowyn. What should I do?
I planted my garden with shrubs and trees which would tolerate salty conditions, living only a couple of hundred metres from the sea. All was well for more than 20 years, until Storm Éowyn. Now there is extensive damage, mostly on one side, to pittosporum, escallonia hedging, evergreen honeysuckle, variegated holly, choisya and viburnum. Most of the leaves have now died and fallen off. On the sheltered side the leaves appear to be undamaged. Should I cut back the damaged side or leave things be and hope there will be new growth later on in the year? Sheila Power, Co Clare While Storm Éowyn caused extensive damage to many established trees and shrubs throughout the country, this was especially the case with coastal gardens along Ireland's west and northern coastline where it hit particularly hard. As I'm sure you know, it's not just the speed and force of these kinds of violent gale force winds that can be so destructive, but also the salt they carry. Such was the exceptional force of Storm Éowyn that it carried salt very far inland, even to counties in the midlands where it could be seen as a white-grey layer on windows and plants the following day. In your own garden where plants are especially exposed to these very salty winds, the extensive damage to the windward side of your evergreen trees and shrubs was caused by the extremely high levels of salt deposits it left on their stems and foliage. This typically burns plant tissue and ruptures plant cells, resulting in browning and discolouration of leaves, dieback of buds and stems, delayed bud break and reduced plant vigour. The resulting shock to plant health is considerable, but the good news is that most will eventually recover. READ MORE As regards cutting back the bare stems, one of the best pieces of advice I can give you is to wait and see. Very often plants will eventually produce new growth after these kinds of extreme weather events, so long as they're given sufficient time to do so, a process of many months. In the meantime, you can check if stems and branches are still alive by using your fingernail to very gently scratch away a small section of the outer layer of the plant cambium. If you see green, this is a very good sign. If the bare stems and branches have remained pliable rather than becoming brittle and brown, this too is a good sign. You can also help your plants to make a full recovery by watering them very well, then sprinkling some slow-release pelleted organic fertiliser around the roots, followed by an organic mulch of home-made compost or well-rotted manure. Unfortunately, the likelihood of these kinds of extreme storms becoming more frequent is much greater because of climate change, so I'd also suggest that you consider increasing the size and depth of your garden's shelterbelt planting if possible. Along with the species that you're already growing, the following will all tolerate exposed seaside growing conditions; Olearia macrodonta; Fuchsia magellanica; Hippophae rhamnoides; Phormium tenax; Pinus nigra; Pinus radiata; Acer pseudoplatanus; Alnus glutinosa; Pinus mugo; and Crataegus sp.
Irish Independent
5 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Four months on from Storm Éowyn there's still phone lines in County Roscommon not restored
Since Storm Éowyn struck on January 24, Eir has restored phone lines to over 174,000 homes and businesses. However, some premises have experienced months-long delays in having their phone and broadband services restored – including a rural school in County Mayo which had no landline for 116 days. The issue was raised in the Dáil by Roscommon-Galway TD Michael Fitzmaurice, who has called on the communications regulator to take action against Eir over the delays in restoring phone lines in his constituency. Deputy Fitzmaurice said that Eir 'should be ashamed' of how they have treated customers in Cloonfad, Ballymoe and 'a number of other areas' who are still without a landline phone service. Lamenting Eir's response to the storm, Deputy Fitzmaurice said local people in the village of Creggs had to tie a ratchet strap and ropes to secure a broken telephone line that is still 'thrown aside' four months after Storm Éowyn. 'Areas like Cloonfad, Ballymoe and a number of other areas are left devastated and without phone lines. It is not about the phone line because in some cases they have gone back and repaired the broadband, but the phone line is a lifeline to the elderly people for when you need your panic button,' he said. Deputy Fitzmaurice also called on the ComReg to start 'taking the finger out to the likes of Eir'. Replying, Tánaiste Simon Harris said that Eir had informed ComReg, that 'all storm-related repairs for the remaining affected customers' will be completed by 3 June. This, he said, excludes eleven cases where there is a third-party constraint, such as access rights, which are 'outside of Eir's control'. 'ComReg will monitor the restoration work until it is completed,' said Minister Harris. Echoing Deputy Fitzmaurice's concerns, the Tánaiste remarked: 'I do not want to say anything that cuts across the regulator, but Eir really needs to step up in how it deals with customers. I have heard this in countless locations.' ADVERTISEMENT ComReg is currently reviewing the performance of operators regarding service restoration in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn. Last week Minister for Communications, Patrick O'Donavan, and Minister for Social Protection, Rural and Community Development, Dara Calleary, convened a meeting of the Mobile Phone and Broadband Task Force. According to the Tánaiste, this meeting was attended by all mobile and fixed-network operators affected by Storm Éowyn, ComReg, and representatives of local authorities and ESB Networks. 'Knowing the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, we can be particularly sure that he expressed his frustration at the meeting regarding Eir's inability to restore services to all customers nearly 18 weeks later. It is farcical,' Mr Harris commented. The Tánaiste said Mr O'Donavan had held meetings with individual operators, including Vodafone, to address network resilience concerns. The minister is due to meet the CEO and owner of Eir shortly. Deputy Fitzmaurice said he would be amazed if all phone services are restored by June 3, which falls after the Bank Holiday weekend. He told the Irish Independent that no work had taken place on the poll near Creggs – which is still being held together with ratchet straps and ropes - since he raised the matter in the Dáil.
The Journal
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Journal
President says corporations 'deliberately' working against climate action
THE PRESIDENT HAS said that there are corporations that are 'deliberately' working against climate action at the same time as the world experiences record-breaking weather extremes. President Michael D. Higgins delivered a speech this morning at the opening of Bloom, the annual food and gardening festival held in Phoenix Park. Addressing the crowd on the first day of the festival, the President used much of his speech to draw attention to the perils of the climate crisis and the need for action to address it. He said that the large attendance numbers at Bloom each year reflect 'the interest that people have in being outdoors' and the growing awareness of needing to protectthe natural world and move to a circular economy. 'We are living, as we all know, in an era of profound environmental challenges, one that is defined by shared interacting crises,' he said. The world's leading climate scientists have told us with increasing urgency that the planet we share is at a tipping point, and in some places has moved over that point,' he said, describing the 'devastating consequences of a warming world'. 'The impacts of climate change in Ireland are impacts with which we are now familiar. They are reflected not only in threat but in actual experience of the consequences of rising sea levels, by the increased frequency and severity of weather events such as high-impact storms, droughts and floods,' he said. Advertisement The President said that 'too many of us will have experienced the dreadful consequences of Storm Éowyn at the end of January', adding that he wanted to 'take this opportunity to thank again all those who worked to address the severe consequences, including the first-responders for their valiant efforts, and the great support they received from communities'. 'We have to make ourselves aware of the imbalance between those who are carrying the consequences of a warming Earth and those who contributed to where we find ourselves in terms of the climate change which has been provoked. 'The peoples of the world are aware of the crisis but unfortunately there are corporations that are deliberately going in another direction and are likely to be very active in trying to get us to retreat from the commitments at that great moment of humanity, the 2015 [Paris Agreement] commitments. During a speech at Bloom festival on climate change, President Michael D Higgins says: 'The peoples of the world are aware of this crisis but there are corporations who are going in the other direction and are very active in trying to get us to retreat from our commitments' — Muiris Ó Cearbhaill (@muirisoc) May 29, 2025 2024 was the warmest year on record , according to the World Meteorological Organisation's latest annual global climate report. The concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere was also higher than ever before. New projections published yesterday by the Environmental Protection Agency show that Ireland is far off track to meet its 2030 climate targets. Additional reporting by Muiris Ó Cearbhaill Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
Agriland
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Agriland
‘Lack of common sense' on house chimneys issue
Independent TD for Tipperary, Mattie McGrath, has criticised the Minister for Housing for what he calls a 'breath-taking lack of common sense' in relation to regulations around chimneys on new houses. He has criticised the department's refusal to review building regulations that effectively prohibit the installation of chimneys and solid fuel stoves in new-build homes. Deputy McGrath had submitted a Parliamentary Question (PQ) asking the housing minister to urgently review policies and allow for chimneys and solid fuel stoves in all new homes, particularly to ensure households have a reliable alternative heating source during electricity outages. However, he said that the department responded by reaffirming its commitment to current regulations under the Climate Action Plan and the EU Nearly Zero Energy Building (NZEB) standards. Deputy McGrath said: 'The response I received proves just how divorced this government has become from the lived realities of rural Ireland. 'The spin about A-rated homes and energy performance is cold comfort to a family sitting in the dark with no heat when the electricity is out, which is happening more and more frequently. 'We saw the damage done during Storm Éowyn where households were left without power for up to two weeks. Many of these new builds had no capacity to heat their homes without access to solid fuel.' Deputy McGrath warned that the insistence on eliminating chimneys from new homes is part of a wider pattern of policy-making that disregards both rural resilience and basic common sense. 'I'm not against energy efficiency or renewables — far from it. But let's get real; electricity can fail. Solid fuel stoves and chimneys have always been a dependable fall-back. Removing them as an option is not only short-sighted, it's dangerous.' McGrath said he would continue to advocate for a balanced and pragmatic approach to building regulations that prioritises not only carbon targets but also energy security and public safety. 'We need policies that reflect the real-world not just theoretical models and EU checklists. Chimneys are not the enemy of progress, but blind ideology might be.'
