Catherine Coxon

How much land & power are required to decarbonise Dublin Airport? Decarbonising the emissions associated with flights from Dublin Airport would need much more land and electricity than you might think

Great, plain English, Brainstorm piece by @ucc.ie researchers on what it would take to decarbonised #DublinAirport -- more than you would think @rte.ie

Why are flood defences taking so long to build? Don’t blame the pearl mussel Just 10 of 54 projects prioritised for development in 2018 are under construction

Why are flood defences taking so long to build? Don’t blame the pearl mussel

www.irishtimes.com/environment/...

Head 12 Exemption from the Act of 2015 Provide that: Any function or exercise undertaken under this Act shall be exempt from the provisions of section 15 of the Act of 2015. Explanatory Note This Head provides that the provisions of section 15 of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015 do not apply to any functions or exercises undertaken under this Bill.

An appalling proposal is hidden at the end of the Government’s Bill on the airport cap; it would exclude decisions under the legislation from the current obligation on almost all public bodies to consider their climate impact and to be consistent with climate objectives.

🚨 RENURE: Science sidelined as EU weakens nitrate rules

Not just what was decided, but how: opaque process, no full impact assessment, key science and civil society ignored.

Bad process, real consequences for 💧 water, 🏥 health, 🌿 ecosystems and 🚜 farmers.

Europe deserves better. PR in comments ⬇️

The Taoiseach is meeting EU leaders today to 'highlight the need to streamline & simplify our regulatory framework'.

However, this push for 'simplification' is weakening EU environmental laws, including the EU's water law. 🌊🦦

Sign our petition to say #HandsOffNature ✋
f.mtr.cool/idwqdgltoj

Screen capture from https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biaf149 It reads: We are hurtling toward climate chaos. The planet's vital signs are flashing red. The consequences of human-driven alterations of the climate are no longer future threats but are here now. This unfolding emergency stems from failed foresight, political inaction, unsustainable economic systems, and misinformation. Authors: William J Ripple, Christopher Wolf, Michael E Mann, Johan Rockström, Jillian W Gregg, Chi Xu, Nico Wunderling, Sarah E Perkins-Kirkpatrick, Roberto Schaeffer, Wendy J Broadgate, Thomas M Newsome, Emily Shuckburgh, Peter H Gleick Title: The 2025 state of the climate report: a planet on the brink. Date published: 29 October 2025 Appeared in: BioScience, Volume 75, Issue 12, December 2025, Pages 1016–1027 Title here: 'Climate Change Is Real' (from own journal - David Rowe, January 2026).

I've never read a more kick ass start to a scientific paper. But then we haven't so clearly faced the end of our civilization before either.
#LeaveItInTheGround
doi.org/10.1093/bios...

Open letter to IE govt: protesting the continuing delays in issuing the 2026 update to the Climate Action Plan (CAP26), and the spurious grounds being offered for that. www.postcarbonireland.org/etc/2026/Let...

Sorry I couldn’t make it, glad that it went well!

Proposal to end Dublin Airport passenger cap approved The Cabinet has approved drafting the required legislation to end the passenger cap at Dublin Airport.

In 6 weeks, Minister O'Brien has fast-tracked LNG infrastructure, lifted the moratorium on data centres and the Dublin Airport passenger cap. All under the banner of 'strategic infrastructure'.

Irresponsible moves that lock us into climate havoc and US dependency.

www.rte.ie/news/politic...

Congratulations @ybuckley.bsky.social ! 🏅

Cork council to carry out pilot project to prevent infestation of sea lettuce on the coast The project will place oysters and mussel bags in the water to remove nitrates and reduce the nutrition sea lettuce depends on to thrive

I hope that the County Council and LAWPRO will also investigate measures to reduce nitrate leaching in the catchments, rather than just tackling the problem in the coastal waters. WFD and Nitrates Directive require pollution prevention not just remediation.
www.irishexaminer.com/news/munster...

I enjoy your photos but don’t enjoy unnecessary use of AI

Thanks for your comments, David!

Thirty obstacles to meeting climate targets identified by all-party committee Most are ascribed to shortfalls in Government planning, policies, action and communications

www.irishtimes.com/environment/...

Sorry that should say "it seems to me"

Wikipedia also mentions the third explanation I've seen: "Old Irish imb- (intensive prefix) and folc ('wash, cleanse'), linking it to folcaim ('to wash/cleanse oneself') and suggesting it referred to a ritual cleansing". It seems to be "i mbolg" is the simplest explanation but I'm not a linguist!

On Wikipedia, it says of this possibility: "The early 10th century Cormac's Glossary has an entry for Oímelc, calling it the beginning of spring and deriving it from oí-melg ('ewe milk')... However, linguists believe this is a folk etymology..."

Is the meaning "i mbolg" i.e. in the belly (related to farm animal pregnancy) generally accepted? I have seen a few alternative explanations but that would seem to be logical for a start-of-spring festival?

Environmental breakdown isn’t a distant possibility – it’s a threat to world stability The message is clear: climate change should be prioritised as a security crisis, not just an environmental one

Nature and climate funding must now be articulated as infrastructure: as essential to food systems, public health, energy stability and geopolitical resilience. In security terms, biodiversity is not sentimental, it is strategic.

www.irishtimes.com/environment/...

Worth reporting on the EPA See it Say it app?

Ice-moulded and ice-rafted paragneiss at Mannin Beg, Galway

Keep your front garden intact and other nature-based solutions to urban flood risks Slowing the runoff from heavy downpours into struggling Victorian drainage systems in urban areas protects property and water quality

In this week's Science & Climate page in @irishtimes.com, Sylvia Thompson has a timely look at a nature-based flood relief scheme that has delivered for residents in Artane, Dublin.....
www.irishtimes.com/environment/...

Ireland in the storms: Flood barriers won't save us if we keep draining the land After flooding in the past, successive governments promised protections, but instead, doubled down on dredging and delayed land-use reform, leaving communities exposed, writes Pádraic Fogarty.

After Midelton was flooded in 2023 Leo Varadkar said we needed a Land Use Plan. The Plan is ready but @micheal-martin.bsky.social won't publish it.

Instead, he's legally designating rivers as "highly modified"

jrnl.ie/6946724

This says everything about our Irish Government #spéirghorm ambition to fail on #climate action - happy to face €30 billion in fines for non action - and to shell out further billions to mop up extreme weather impacts - but not take the systemic policy action needed to protect our future

Stop a Canadian corporation harvesting huge forests of seaweed from the west coast There should be a public consultation on this plan opening soon but lets gather signatures to demonstrate the fact that up and down the west coast, thousands of people don't want our seaweed rights gi...

Petition on large scale commercial seaweed harvesting : my.uplift.ie/petitions/st... @uplift.ie

In Ireland the fate of farming and nature are Intertwined—and so are the budgets - Green News Ireland Fintan Kelly, Senior Landuse Officer, Environmental Pillar Many farming families depend on nature and the public money that supports its custodianship. In the same way, wildlife depends on sustainable...

The Nature Restoration Plan, which is currently being developed, is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to secure a bright future for nature & farming alike, but it can only deliver if politicians & farming leaders are honest with farmers and work in their best interests greennews.ie/in-ireland-t...

what drivers see when you're wearing hi-viz vs when you're not

Sadhbh O'Neill: Should Ireland introduce a legal 'duty of care' for rainwater? In the Netherlands and Germany, nature-based solutions are the first step in flood prevention. In Ireland, they’re the last

Should Ireland introduce a legal ‘duty of care’ for rainwater?

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

𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗳𝗲𝗿𝘀: 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿? 🔍💧

Groundwater is an important resource, but it's largely invisible, hidden underneath. Delimiting aquifers, or mapping their boundaries and flow, is a key factor in sustainable water management, pollution prevention, and infrastructure planning.

🚨Powerful polluting industries and reckless lawmakers are tearing down our main EU water law. ☠️

For the past 25 years, the law has driven the cleanup of our rivers and lakes. 💙💧

We need to stop them. 🛑

Sign our petition to say #HandsOffNature ✋👇
https://f.mtr.cool/idwqdgltoj