Chris O'Connell

US airlines fear EU-wide impact of likely ruling on Dublin Airport passenger cap The Government must enact legislation to remove the passenger cap at Dublin Airport by the end of April or risk seeing a decision by the EU’s top court that would give planning authorities across the ...

US lobby group Airlines for America tells Irish govt it must move faster to lift Dublin Airport passenger cap.

Thank you for the coverage! Great explanation of the Irish context and its environmental policies.

• Proposals to introduce LNG in Ireland lack adequate, comprehensive and scientifically based assessments of environmental and climate impacts.
• Human right defenders are prioritised in Ireland’s candidature for the UNHRC; this should be reflected in its approach in Europe and domestically.

• Given the chilling effect of #ISDS, Ireland should withdraw from the ECT and further trade agreements like it (#CETA).
• As per the ICJ Advisory Opinion on Climate Change, Ireland has a customary international law obligation to avoid harms, including transboundary ones.

• The #simplification agenda in Ireland and EU can't come at the expense of human rights and the environment.
• Regulating business, particularly multinational corporations, is an international legal obligation and applies across global value chains.

Great to see the publication of preliminary findings by UNSR Astrid Puentes @srenvironment.bsky.social following her official visit to Ireland, which concluded today. However, it makes for sobering reading if you care about the environment and climate action in Ireland. Issues highlighted include..

🇮🇪 I just concluded my 10-day official visit to #Ireland, where I observed important progress in protecting the environment, but these achievements are at risk.

Press release: www.ohchr.org/en/press-rel...
@un-spexperts.bsky.social

Evie notes: "In a parliamentary democracy, decision-making must be anchored in the public good and meaningful democratic participation – not in concentrated corporate power."

Scrutiny of EU laws should be scrutinised The skewering of specialist committee examination is not administrative efficiency; it is the creation of a democratic deficit

Great letter in today's The Irish Times by Evie Clarke, Coordinator of the Irish Coalition for Business and Human Rights on the government closing civil society space, systematically bypassing crucial fora for debate and participation.
www.irishtimes.com/opinion/lett...

Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson has passed away at the age of 84. My thoughts are with his family.

I wanted to share this clip from his appearance on Sesame Street in 1971. His important words ring just as true today as they did back then.

Rolling back environmental regulation is the ultimate act of self-harm Across the world, right-wing political forces are working to dismantle decades of environmental and social progress, writes Ciaran Brennan

Great piece by Ciaran Brennan in today's Irish Examiner on the true costs of EU #deregulation, particularly for the environment. These attacks are part of a clear, coordinated agenda by right-wing forces across the globe, including the Irish government.
www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...

To those concerned about Ireland's exposure to #ISDS style & #ICS clauses in #trade deals like #CETA:

The Dáil Select Committee stage for the #ArbitrationAmendmentBill2025 is:
tomorrow Tue 17 Feb at 3pm

The Government plan to use the bill to facilitate ratification of such deals
#Constitution

Will Ireland stand up against EU’s race to the bottom? The holy scripture known as the Draghi report would make us all more vulnerable to predatory corporate profit-making

Powerful words from Trócaire's @chris-oconnell.bsky.social in The Irish Times over the weekend.

'This mania for 'cutting red tape' causes real harms, peeling away key rights and protections from people in Europe and around the world.'

www.irishtimes.com/opinion/lett...

Will Ireland stand up against EU’s race to the bottom? The holy scripture known as the Draghi report would make us all more vulnerable to predatory corporate profit-making

My letter to the editor in Saturday's @irishtimes.com calls for Ireland to be the boy who points out that the Emperor has no clothes on... Enough of the "cutting red tape" mania: it does nothing for competitiveness, but does cause real harms to us all. www.irishtimes.com/opinion/lett...

Proposed ‘investor courts’ will put corporate interests ahead of public ones Disputes between hugely powerful private companies and the Government ought to be decided in national courts

Great letter in today's @irishtimes.com by Evie Clarke, Coordinator of the Irish Coalition for Business and Human Rights on the dangers of #ISDS investor courts and the government's self-harming mission to fully ratify #CETA. www.irishtimes.com/opinion/lett...

EPA reverses long-standing climate change finding, stripping its own ability to regulate emissions The agency announced it is repealing its 2009 conclusion that greenhouse gases warm the Earth and endanger human health and well-being.

There are so many fucked up things with the current administration that it's hard to focus on one but this recent move is basically a death sentence for the planet. I've been involved with more boots on the ground actions over the years than I can count and this really bums me out.

We Didn’t Start the Fire (But it’s all the ways the EU has ruined environmental protection in the last three years) with @greenpeace.eu #ad

To answer the question: same as all other decisions, it seems; they will be made by the private, for-profit sector. Because "competitiveness" or "simplification" or something...

Economic growth is still heating the planet. Is there any way out? Rising GDP continues to mean more carbon emissions and wider damage to the planet. Can the two be decoupled?

Why does the global economy need to end its obsession with GDP growth?

1️⃣ Growth does not equal wellbeing and equity

2️⃣ We are far from decoupling the stock of atmospheric carbon dioxide from economic growth

Find more reasons in this insightful overview 👇
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Special Rendition 2.0: Enter the Private Sector. Dystopian new approach with US-based Palestinians renditioned on a private jet. But Irish complicity continues. "Aircraft tracking data shows that both the 21 January and 1 February flights to Israel made refuelling stops at Shannon airport."

Ireland committed back in 2024 to exiting the disastrous #ECT but has yet to do so. In the meantime it has been hit with at least one #ISDS claim. Now the European Commission of all institutions is urging countries to push back on corporate power and #ExitECT. Time to go!

New data shows almost half of workers say their workplace gets too hot - but just one in ten say changes were made to work

Employers can’t be allowed to pretend that climate change isn’t happening. We need EU legislation to stop further work-related heat deaths

📰 www.etuc.org/en/pressrele...

Climate expert warns Ireland faces fines of up to €26bn after three more data centres approved A climate academic who appealed the approval of three new data centres in Dublin has warned of fines of up to €26bn for Ireland for missing its climate goals.

“The construction of data centres is outpacing the rollout of renewables...”

The costs:

- €8bn to €26bn in fines
- Loss of faith in democracy as the government prioritises data centres ahead of housing and infrastructure

Oh, and accelerating climate breakdown!

www.independent.ie/irish-news/c...

CETA: a free trade agreement that is anti-constitutional and waters down our rights and protections so mega-corporations make more money. But we all win.

14 Indigenous peoples in northern Brazil are blocking a Cargill facility to protest a government decree privatising & expanding dredging projects for soybean exports. Protestors say it "symbolises predatory agribusiness” and that Cargill lobbied for the decree.
ca.news.yahoo.com/indigenous-p...

Mandelson’s Fifth Column The British government’s business department exists to undermine democracy.

1. In 2009 I wrote this. I argued that Peter Mandelson's department “functions as a fifth column within government, working for corporations to undermine democracy and the public interest.”
This thread explains what I saw, and reaches a startling conclusion.🧵
www.monbiot.com/2009/05/04/m...

Minister for Environment Darragh O'Brien is attempting to rush through approval for a €900 million LNG reserve at the cost of the taxpayer & the planet.

The proposed legislation would give the Minister full responsibility for the planning application & completely change the normal planning process.

Mary Robinson calls for law to block fossil fuel investments flowing through Irish-based firms Former president said move to clean energy should include an end to fossil fuel subsidies, such as the tax breaks on fuel enjoyed by airlines

Mary Robinson calls for law to block fossil fuel investments flowing through Irish-based firms

www.irishtimes.com/business/202...

I don't know how to do this But I'm going to keep doing it anyway.

Wrote myself a pep talk to get back to work tomorrow. It helped me. Hope it helps you.

Great News! Mercosur will be referred to ECJ 🙌🏻