theirishtimes--2020-03-06--Phil Hogan concerned at decreasing focus on Brexit in Ireland

EU trade commissioner Phil Hogan says he is concerned at the decreasing focus in Ireland on Brexit , despite repeated Government attempts to highlight the issue .
“ The difficult part of Brexit is only beginning , ” he told an audience in Dublin on Friday , referring to talks on a new trade deal under way between the EU and the UK .
“ Things are going to be different on January 1st ” next , whether there was a deal or not , and companies needed to spend more time thinking about that , the commissioner said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ off to a serious start ” , despite the challenging rhetoric coming from the UK in recent weeks .
Mr Hogan said he was not worried about suggestions that the UK would not observe the agreement reached last year on the Irish Border issue .
He noted the chief UK negotiator , David Frost , had confirmed this week that the UK would respect its legal agreements .
Asked about British prime minster Boris Johnson saying the UK would consider in June whether it should walk away from the talks , Mr Hogan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ any side to be saying they want to walk away from discussions that have just started .
It is a very unusual way of negotiating ” .
However , the negotiations were unusual , he said .
It was the first time the EU was negotiating with a country that wanted to diverge from the EU , as opposed to wanting to converge .
The UK ’ s negotiating team , he said , should study closely the expert reports drafted about the likely effect on various sectors of the UK economy , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” exit of the UK from its trading relationship with the EU .
The EU was contemplating “ doing a deal with our neighbours and friends in the United Kingdom and we are not contemplating any other result ” , the commissioner said .
However , the EU “ could not rule out what the UK will do , to provoke us to walk away , but we are not planning for that ” .
The tactic of a “ No-Deal Brexit ” cut no ice in the negotiation of the Withdrawal Treaty @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it will not cut any ice in the talks for a trade agreement.
” In his address in Dublin entitled , “ EU Trade Amidst Global Uncertainty ” , Mr Hogan spoke about the EU ’ s work on trade in the context of Brexit , the Trump presidency and the increased role played by China in global trade .
“ We will be a more geopolitical commission , asserting our interests more forcefully both at home and abroad , ” he said .
“ In today ’ s world , this is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Those with whom the EU negotiated agreements , would be expected to live up to EU standards , he said .
The commissioner said China “ is exploiting gaps in the international rulebook to further its consolidation of global power .
Unfortunately it often does so in a manner that makes a mockery of level playing fields and fair , rules-based trade ” .
In relation to the US , he said the two sides were taking slow and small steps towards a “ mini-deal ” .
He would be in Washington DC @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would be made .
“ The EU Commission view is that a strengthened consensus with our American friends remains the single most effective way to deal with some of the urgent challenges facing the global community.
” On the coronavirus issue , Mr Hogan said the relaxation of state aid rules could be agreed with countries that made a convincing case , so that companies and others facing exceptional challenges could be helped .
“ If we get the evidence , we will move as quickly as we can .
”

EU trade commissioner Phil Hogan said the talks on a post-Brexit trade deal were the first time the EU was negotiating with a country that wanted to diverge from the bloc. Photograph: Reuters
EU trade commissioner Phil Hogan says he is concerned at the decreasing focus in Ireland on Brexit, despite repeated Government attempts to highlight the issue.
“The difficult part of Brexit is only beginning,” he told an audience in Dublin on Friday, referring to talks on a new trade deal under way between the EU and the UK.
“Things are going to be different on January 1st” next, whether there was a deal or not, and companies needed to spend more time thinking about that, the commissioner said.
He said the talks had “gotten off to a serious start”, despite the challenging rhetoric coming from the UK in recent weeks.
READ MORE
Mr Hogan said he was not worried about suggestions that the UK would not observe the agreement reached last year on the Irish Border issue.
He noted the chief UK negotiator, David Frost, had confirmed this week that the UK would respect its legal agreements.
Asked about British prime minster Boris Johnson saying the UK would consider in June whether it should walk away from the talks, Mr Hogan said it was "not helpful for any side to be saying they want to walk away from discussions that have just started. It is a very unusual way of negotiating".
However, the negotiations were unusual, he said. It was the first time the EU was negotiating with a country that wanted to diverge from the EU, as opposed to wanting to converge.
The UK’s negotiating team, he said, should study closely the expert reports drafted about the likely effect on various sectors of the UK economy, in the event of a “no-deal” exit of the UK from its trading relationship with the EU.
The EU was contemplating "doing a deal with our neighbours and friends in the United Kingdom and we are not contemplating any other result", the commissioner said.
However, the EU “could not rule out what the UK will do, to provoke us to walk away, but we are not planning for that”.
The tactic of a “No-Deal Brexit” cut no ice in the negotiation of the Withdrawal Treaty, the commissioner said. “And it will not cut any ice in the talks for a trade agreement.”
In his address in Dublin entitled, "EU Trade Amidst Global Uncertainty", Mr Hogan spoke about the EU's work on trade in the context of Brexit, the Trump presidency and the increased role played by China in global trade.
“We will be a more geopolitical commission, asserting our interests more forcefully both at home and abroad,” he said. “In today’s world, this is not a choice but a necessity.”
Those with whom the EU negotiated agreements, would be expected to live up to EU standards, he said.
The commissioner said China “is exploiting gaps in the international rulebook to further its consolidation of global power. Unfortunately it often does so in a manner that makes a mockery of level playing fields and fair, rules-based trade”.
In relation to the US, he said the two sides were taking slow and small steps towards a “mini-deal”. He would be in Washington DC next week when he hoped further progress would be made.
“The EU Commission view is that a strengthened consensus with our American friends remains the single most effective way to deal with some of the urgent challenges facing the global community.”
On the coronavirus issue, Mr Hogan said the relaxation of state aid rules could be agreed with countries that made a convincing case, so that companies and others facing exceptional challenges could be helped.
“If we get the evidence, we will move as quickly as we can.”


theirishtimes--2020-03-07--Coronavirus: Some Irish embassies cancel St Patrick’s Day receptions

A number of Irish embassies have cancelled their planned St Patrick ’ s Day receptions due to the coronavirus outbreak .
Cancellation notices were sent out to invited guests by Ireland ’ s embassies in France and Switzerland and by the Permanent Mission of Ireland to the United Nations in Geneva on Friday .
“ In light of the evolving Covid-19 situation , and having consulted the relevant authorities , we have decided to cancel our St Patrick ’ s Day reception , ” the Irish Ambassador in Switzerland Eamon Hickey wrote to guests .
Ireland ’ s flagship event @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to fall victim to the outbreak , which has forced the cancellation of mass business , cultural and sporting events across Europe .
The outbreak has hit economies as people cancel plans to travel and socialise , and taken a heavy toll on Chinese manufacturing which has hit supply chains .
“ We have had no option but to cancel , ” wrote the Ambassador Michael Gaffey of the Permanent Mission of Ireland to the United Nations in Geneva .
“ I would hope that we will be in a position to re-organise @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but obviously this will depend on the evolution of the situation.
” The cancellation notice by the Irish Embassy to France said the St Patrick ’ s Day reception was being called off due to “ current circumstances ” , without specifying the disease .
Minister for Finance Paschal Donohue had been due to visit Paris for St Patrick ’ s Day events .
He is one of nine members of Government due to be dispatched across Europe and the United States for the occasion .
The Department of Foreign Affairs did not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Patrick ’ s Day events would be cancelled , but said decisions would be taken on a case by case basis .
“ St Patrick ’ s Day receptions cancelled are local decisions made by the Embassy in consultation with local authorities and local Irish communities , ” a spokesman said .
The Government has said there are no plans as yet to cancel St Patrick ’ s Day events in Ireland .
However , organisers of the St Patrick ’ s Day parade in Youghal , Co Cork have announced they will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , efforts are continuing across the State to curb the spread of the coronavirus following news that the number of confirmed Irish cases had risen to 18 .
Five new cases of the virus were confirmed on Friday – three in the south of the county , one in the east and one in the west .
One case is associated with travel from northern Italy , and one with close contact with a confirmed case .
A third case involves a healthcare worker who was in close contact with a confirmed case @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a male who travelled from abroad and a female who travelled from northern Italy .
The country the man travelled to Ireland from is not one of the high-risk areas and the case remains under investigation .
The State ’ s chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan described 18 as “ a small number of cases ” and pointed out that the origins of all but one could be explained .
“ We are still in a containment phase and the chance of picking up this disease remains very low.
” More than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with the virus and nearly 3,500 people have died .
The disease has been detected in 89 countries with China , Iran , Italy , South Korea and Japan the worst affected areas .
Germany , France , Spain and the United States have also see their number of positive cases rise rapidly in recent days .
It ’ s expected staff at some Irish hospitals will be trained to provide testing facilities regionally with the National Virus Reference Laboratory in University College Dublin currently processing all tests .
Information notices are being @ @ @ @ @ @ @ country with details of “ good respiratory and hygiene practices ” , a spokesman for the department of justice has said .
These notices , which are being translated into different languages , are being made available in all accommodation centres which includes emergency beds in B & Bs and hotels .
However , fears have been voiced on Twitter that the cramped , overcrowded conditions of some accommodation centres could result in the virus rapidly spreading among groups of asylum seekers .
Daily risk assessments are also being conducted and “ any @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , said the department spokesman .
“ In accordance with best practice , contingency planning is also in hand to address any issues arising in the centres , should circumstances change ” , he added .
Trinity College Dublin , which has one confirmed case among its student body , introduced a ban on Friday evening on any staff or student entering the university for 14 days after returning from a high-risk area .
At present , China , Hong Kong , Singapore , South Korea , Iran , Japan and four provinces @ @ @ @ @ @ @ risk by the HSE .
Queen ’ s University Belfast is also operating as normal after a member of the college community tested positive for the virus earlier this week .
Starbucks announced on Friday that it had stopped accepting reusable cups from customers to prevent the spread of the virus but that it would still honour the promised discount for anyone carrying one .
Drinks will be served in paper cups , the company said .
It ’ s understood a number of Irish-based coffee shops are following suit and refusing to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Cork and the midwest , and Dublin ’ s Mater hospital , where cases are being treated , have introduced visitor restrictions and many elective surgeries have been cancelled .
Private nursing homes across the State have also restricted visiting to minimise risk to “ vulnerable ” older residents .

An emergency department nurse during a demonstration of the Coronavirus pod and COVID-19 virus testing procedures set-up beside the Emergency Department of Antrim Area Hospital, Co Antrim in Northern Ireland. Photograph: Michael Cooper/PA Wire
A number of Irish embassies have cancelled their planned St Patrick’s Day receptions due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Cancellation notices were sent out to invited guests by Ireland's embassies in France and Switzerland and by the Permanent Mission of Ireland to the United Nations in Geneva on Friday.
“In light of the evolving Covid-19 situation, and having consulted the relevant authorities, we have decided to cancel our St Patrick’s Day reception,” the Irish Ambassador in Switzerland Eamon Hickey wrote to guests.
Ireland’s flagship event on the diplomatic calendar is the latest to fall victim to the outbreak, which has forced the cancellation of mass business, cultural and sporting events across Europe.
READ MORE
The outbreak has hit economies as people cancel plans to travel and socialise, and taken a heavy toll on Chinese manufacturing which has hit supply chains.
“We have had no option but to cancel,” wrote the Ambassador Michael Gaffey of the Permanent Mission of Ireland to the United Nations in Geneva.
“I would hope that we will be in a position to re-organise the event in a few months, but obviously this will depend on the evolution of the situation.”
The cancellation notice by the Irish Embassy to France said the St Patrick’s Day reception was being called off due to “current circumstances”, without specifying the disease.
Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe had been due to visit Paris for St Patrick's Day events. He is one of nine members of Government due to be dispatched across Europe and the United States for the occasion.
The Department of Foreign Affairs did not give a figure on how many St Patrick’s Day events would be cancelled, but said decisions would be taken on a case by case basis.
“St Patrick’s Day receptions cancelled are local decisions made by the Embassy in consultation with local authorities and local Irish communities,” a spokesman said.
The Government has said there are no plans as yet to cancel St Patrick's Day events in Ireland. However, organisers of St Patrick's Day parades in the Co Cork towns of Youghal, Cobh and Midleton have announced they will cancel their event this year.
Efforts
Meanwhile, efforts are continuing across the State to curb the spread of the coronavirus following news that the number of confirmed Irish cases had risen to 18.
Five new cases of the virus were confirmed on Friday – three in the south of the county, one in the east and one in the west.
One case is associated with travel from northern Italy, and one with close contact with a confirmed case. A third case involves a healthcare worker who was in close contact with a confirmed case.
The last two new cases involve a male who travelled from abroad and a female who travelled from northern Italy. The country the man travelled to Ireland from is not one of the high-risk areas and the case remains under investigation.
The State’s chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan described 18 as “a small number of cases” and pointed out that the origins of all but one could be explained.
“We are still in a containment phase and the chance of picking up this disease remains very low.”
More than 102,100 people worldwide have now been infected with the virus and nearly 3,500 people have died. The disease has been detected in 89 countries with China, Iran, Italy, South Korea and Japan the worst affected areas. Germany, France, Spain and the United States have also see their number of positive cases rise rapidly in recent days.
Testing
It's expected staff at some Irish hospitals will be trained to provide testing facilities regionally with the National Virus Reference Laboratory in University College Dublin currently processing all tests.
The National Maternity Hospital on Dublin’s Holles Street said it had applied visitor restrictions due to concerns about the potential spread of the virus.
“The only visiting permitted is the birth partner of the pregnant woman or mother attending (no childen) & the parents of a baby in NICU unless exceptional circumstances,” the hospital said in Twitter post on Saturday.
Hospitals in Cork and the midwest, and Dublin’s Mater hospital, where cases are being treated, have also introduced visitor restrictions and many elective surgeries have been cancelled. Private nursing homes across the State have also restricted visiting to minimise risk to “vulnerable” older residents.
Information notices are being distributed to direct provision centres around the country with details of “good respiratory and hygiene practices”, a spokesman for the department of justice has said.
These notices, which are being translated into different languages, are being made available in all accommodation centres which includes emergency beds in B&Bs and hotels.
However, fears have been voiced on Twitter that the cramped, overcrowded conditions of some accommodation centres could result in the virus rapidly spreading among groups of asylum seekers.
Daily risk assessments are also being conducted and “any changing circumstances are responded to effectively”, said the department spokesman. “In accordance with best practice, contingency planning is also in hand to address any issues arising in the centres, should circumstances change”, he added.
Confirmed case
Trinity College Dublin, which has one confirmed case among its student body, introduced a ban on Friday evening on any staff or student entering the university for 14 days after returning from a high-risk area. At present, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Iran, Japan and four provinces of northern Italy are designated as high risk by the HSE.
Queen’s University Belfast is also operating as normal after a member of the college community tested positive for the virus earlier this week.
Starbucks announced on Friday that it had stopped accepting reusable cups from customers to prevent the spread of the virus but that it would still honour the promised discount for anyone carrying one. Drinks will be served in paper cups, the company said.
It’s understood a number of Irish-based coffee shops are following suit and refusing to serve drinks in reusable cups.


theirishtimes--2020-03-07--Global capitalist system a bigger threat than coronavirus, Naidoo says

The global capitalist system and an associated patholgical illness called “ affluenza ” is the biggest threat to humankind rather than coronavirus or flu , the human rights campaigner Kumi Naidoo has said .
Delivering the fifth Mary Robinson Human Rights Lecture at Ballina Arts Centre in Co Mayo , Mr Naidoo said there was a convergence of interconnected crises at present including climate disruption , increasingly authoritarian rulers , massive growth of oligarchic wealth and xenophobia .
Mr Naidoo , a former secretary general of Amnesty International , said he wished to speak with honesty and highlight that humanity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ suggesting that it was too late to act .
He said the children of Africa who do not have fridges or electricity were least to blame , and faced the worst consequences .
“ If we don ’ t get this right – within the next 10 years – the problems of today will look like a Sunday morning picnic , ” he said .
Mr Naidoo said that if everybody was to live to the EU average , three to five planets would be needed .
But he underlined that casting this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was not helpful and “ would just drag everyone down ” .
There was , he said , cause for real optimism in the fact that “ the energy debate is won ” and fossil fuel use is declining , even though some in the sector wanted to stretch out their use till the end of the century .
Nonetheless , governments and oil companies would face an avalanche of litigation in coming years on the basis they knew long before this of the impacts of fossil fuels on the planet .
Right @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s top award to Greta Thunberg , Mr Naidoo said he had underlined her right to be happy and to do ordinary things like play sport .
He said his regret in fighting apartheid in South Africa was the loss of his childhood too early and this was why it was worth considering what makes a happy life , especially in protecting children ’ s future .
He said young people were “ crying out across the world for action ” on the climate crisis – “ our entire house is on fire @ @ @ @ @ @ @ did not have the capability to address it .
As a consequence of greed and inability to share resources , the poor , working classes and people of colour were suffering most , he added .
Mr Naidoo said that even in the World Health Organisation ’ s worst case scenario for the coronavirus , the number of deaths would come nowhere near those caused by the climate crisis already .
The science could not be denied , he said , adding that the status quo could no longer apply and that energy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be changed .
He said the world was facing a leadership crisis but he was lucky in that he came from South Africa which had a leader in Nelson Mandela “ who was not crazy , who was loved and made an impact internationally ” .
Mary Robinson had fulfilled such a role in the Irish context , he believed .
Mrs Robinson paid tribute to Mr Naidoo ’ s ability to not shirk from outlining the scale of the climate crisis and yet provide hope .

The global capitalist system and an associated patholgical illness called "affluenza" is the biggest threat to humankind rather than coronavirus or flu, the human rights campaigner Kumi Naidoo has said.
Delivering the fifth Mary Robinson Human Rights Lecture at Ballina Arts Centre in Co Mayo, Mr Naidoo said there was a convergence of interconnected crises at present including climate disruption, increasingly authoritarian rulers, massive growth of oligarchic wealth and xenophobia.
Mr Naidoo, a former secretary general of Amnesty International, said he wished to speak with honesty and highlight that humanity is in deep trouble, but without suggesting that it was too late to act.
He said the children of Africa who do not have fridges or electricity were least to blame, and faced the worst consequences.
READ MORE
“If we don’t get this right – within the next 10 years – the problems of today will look like a Sunday morning picnic,” he said.
Mr Naidoo said that if everybody was to live to the EU average, three to five planets would be needed. But he underlined that casting this scenario as one of gloom and doom was not helpful and “would just drag everyone down”.
There was, he said, cause for real optimism in the fact that “the energy debate is won” and fossil fuel use is declining, even though some in the sector wanted to stretch out their use till the end of the century.
Nonetheless, governments and oil companies would face an avalanche of litigation in coming years on the basis they knew long before this of the impacts of fossil fuels on the planet.
Right to be happy
In giving Amnesty's top award to Greta Thunberg, Mr Naidoo said he had underlined her right to be happy and to do ordinary things like play sport. He said his regret in fighting apartheid in South Africa was the loss of his childhood too early and this was why it was worth considering what makes a happy life, especially in protecting children's future.
He said young people were “crying out across the world for action” on the climate crisis – “our entire house is on fire” – yet politicians and big business did not have the capability to address it.
As a consequence of greed and inability to share resources, the poor, working classes and people of colour were suffering most, he added.
Mr Naidoo said that even in the World Health Organisation’s worst case scenario for the coronavirus, the number of deaths would come nowhere near those caused by the climate crisis already. The science could not be denied, he said, adding that the status quo could no longer apply and that energy, food and financial systems need to be changed.
He said the world was facing a leadership crisis but he was lucky in that he came from South Africa which had a leader in Nelson Mandela "who was not crazy, who was loved and made an impact internationally".
Mary Robinson had fulfilled such a role in the Irish context, he believed.
Mrs Robinson paid tribute to Mr Naidoo’s ability to not shirk from outlining the scale of the climate crisis and yet provide hope.


theirishtimes--2020-03-07--State to improve protections for people with disabilities against hate crimes

The Government intends to improve access for people with disabilities to jury service and improve protections for people with disabilities against hate crimes .
The actions are contained in the mid-term review of the National Disability Inclusion Strategy ( NDIS ) 2017 – 2021 , published today by the Minister of State with responsibility of disability issues , Finian McGrath .
The review , which sets out a framework for actions on disability from now until the end of 2021 , was completed following detailed consultation with disability stakeholders , relevant departments and agencies .
Other priority areas included in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of “ persons of unsound mind ” from the statute book and increase the target for the percentage of people with disabilities employed in the public sector to 6 per cent .
The commencement of the Assisted Decision-Making ( Capacity ) Act 2015 will also abolish wardship and provide support that respects a person ’ s will and preferences , the document states .
The Department of Justice added that work will begin on the issue of intersectionality to identify the particular needs of people with disabilities depending on their gender , sexual @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not they are migrants or of migrant origin .
As well as listing out future plans , the review also reflects on some of the actions that have been completed since the strategy was launched in 2017 .
The review states that in 2011 , there were approximately 4,000 people with disabilities living in congregated settings and there are now less than 2,100 people with disabilities in these environments .
The strategy set a target for 8 per cent of students with a disability entering third-level education .
The overall participation rate has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the target .
As a result , a new target of 12 per cent has been set for 2021 .
The document also highlights “ significant progress ” in the accessibility of public transport , the enactment of the Irish Sign Language Act 2017 and the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in April 2018 .
In a statement , Mr McGrath welcomed the progress that had been made but acknowledged there was still work to be done .
“ This work has always been a particular @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be , ” he said .
“ When the Strategy concludes in 2021 , my hope and my aim is for Ireland to be a better place for people with disabilities to live in and a place where people with disabilities are involved and consulted with on matters and decisions that affect their lives.
” He added : “ Ireland should be a country where people with disabilities have complete equality , can participate fully in our society , and enjoy a quality of life on a par with the rest of @ @ @ @

Mid-term review of the National Disability Inclusion Strategy (NDIS) 2017 – 2021, published by the Minister of State with responsibility of disability issues, Finian McGrath. Photograph: Gareth Chaney/ Collins
The Government intends to improve access for people with disabilities to jury service and improve protections for people with disabilities against hate crimes.
The actions are contained in the mid-term review of the National Disability Inclusion Strategy (NDIS) 2017 – 2021, published today by the Minister of State with responsibility of disability issues, Finian McGrath.
The review, which sets out a framework for actions on disability from now until the end of 2021, was completed following detailed consultation with disability stakeholders, relevant departments and agencies.
Other priority areas included in the report are the removal of references of “persons of unsound mind” from the statute book and increase the target for the percentage of people with disabilities employed in the public sector to 6 per cent.
READ MORE
The commencement of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 will also abolish wardship and provide support that respects a person’s will and preferences, the document states.
The Department of Justice added that work will begin on the issue of intersectionality to identify the particular needs of people with disabilities depending on their gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity or on whether or not they are migrants or of migrant origin.
As well as listing out future plans, the review also reflects on some of the actions that have been completed since the strategy was launched in 2017.
Review
The review states that in 2011, there were approximately 4,000 people with disabilities living in congregated settings and there are now less than 2,100 people with disabilities in these environments.
The strategy set a target for 8 per cent of students with a disability entering third-level education. The overall participation rate has increased to 10 per cent, surpassing the target. As a result, a new target of 12 per cent has been set for 2021.
The document also highlights “significant progress” in the accessibility of public transport, the enactment of the Irish Sign Language Act 2017 and the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in April 2018.
In a statement, Mr McGrath welcomed the progress that had been made but acknowledged there was still work to be done.
“This work has always been a particular passion of mine, and will continue to be,” he said.
"When the Strategy concludes in 2021, my hope and my aim is for Ireland to be a better place for people with disabilities to live in and a place where people with disabilities are involved and consulted with on matters and decisions that affect their lives."
He added: “Ireland should be a country where people with disabilities have complete equality, can participate fully in our society, and enjoy a quality of life on a par with the rest of the population.”


theirishtimes--2020-03-07--Man (49) found guilty of murdering prison officer in Belfast

A man has been found guilty of the murder of a Northern Ireland prison officer .
Christopher Robinson ( 49 ) was convicted of fatally injuring Adrian Ismay — a man he once volunteered alongside with the St John Ambulance — in an under-vehicle bomb attack in 2016 .
Delivering judgment in the non-jury trial in Belfast Crown Court on Friday evening , Mr Justice McAlinden said the bombing bore all the hallmarks of a dissident republican attack .
Mr Ismay , a 52-year-old married father-of-three , died 11 days after suffering serious leg injuries when the Semtex bomb exploded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ driven away from his east Belfast home .
The extremist group that styles itself as the ‘ New IRA ’ claimed to have carried out the attack on the long-serving officer .
Mr Ismay was released from hospital after the blast on March 4th and had been making good progress , but he died unexpectedly less than two weeks later when a blood clot triggered a heart attack .
He had worked at Hydebank Wood Young Offenders ’ Centre in south Belfast , where he trained new recruits to the Prison Service .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ based on analysis of a variety of different strands of evidence linking Robinson , from Aspen Walk , Belfast , to the attack .
“ Such anxious and careful scrutiny of the whole of the evidence in this case compels the court to conclude that the defendant deliberately engaged and assisted in the targeting of Mr Ismay as the intended victim of this bomb attack , ” he stated .
“ The defendant knew that this bomb attack , if successful , would result in the death of Mr Ismay or the infliction @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this was the intended outcome of his actions.
” The judge added : “ Having examined and tested the individual strands of evidence in this case and the links between those strands and having carefully and anxiously scrutinised the entirety of the evidence in this case , I am compelled to conclude that the evidence establishes beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant Christopher Robinson was intimately and inextricably involved in the facilitation and execution of the terrorist operation which involved the attachment of a viable improvised explosive device to the underside of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ intention of causing the death of Mr Ismay or causing him really serious injury .
“ That device did explode when Mr Ismay was driving the vehicle and the injuries he suffered resulted in his death.
” The judge said he had carefully examined the arguments of defence counsel to assess whether there was a reasonable doubt over Robinson ’ s guilt .
“ I have found nothing , ” he added .
“ I , therefore , am compelled to find the defendant guilty of the murder of Mr Adrian Ismay and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of explosives with intent to endanger life.
” The judge made no finding in relation to an additional charge of providing property for the purpose of terrorism .
Robinson , who did not give evidence during his trial , was remanded in custody ahead of sentencing at a later date .
The Police Service of Northern Ireland ( PSNI ) welcomed the conviction .
Det Supt Richard Campbell said : “ My thoughts today are first and foremost with Adrian ’ s grieving wife , his three children and wider family circle who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pain and loss they feel every day.
” He added : “ I hope today ’ s conviction will provide some comfort for Adrian ’ s family .
It should also serve as a warning to anyone involved in terrorism within our community that the PSNI will investigate these offences robustly and vigorously to bring offenders to justice.
” - PA

The New IRA claimed responsibility for the attack which resulted in the death of prison officer Adrian Ismay. Photograph: Department of Justice/PA Wire
A man has been found guilty of the murder of a Northern Ireland prison officer.
Christopher Robinson (49) was convicted of fatally injuring Adrian Ismay — a man he once volunteered alongside with the St John Ambulance — in an under-vehicle bomb attack in 2016.
Delivering judgment in the non-jury trial in Belfast Crown Court on Friday evening, Mr Justice McAlinden said the bombing bore all the hallmarks of a dissident republican attack.
Mr Ismay, a 52-year-old married father-of-three, died 11 days after suffering serious leg injuries when the Semtex bomb exploded underneath his van shortly after he had driven away from his east Belfast home.
READ MORE
The extremist group that styles itself as the ‘New IRA’ claimed to have carried out the attack on the long-serving officer.
Mr Ismay was released from hospital after the blast on March 4th and had been making good progress, but he died unexpectedly less than two weeks later when a blood clot triggered a heart attack.
He had worked at Hydebank Wood Young Offenders’ Centre in south Belfast, where he trained new recruits to the Prison Service.
Strands of evidence
Mr Justice McAlinden said his judgment was based on analysis of a variety of different strands of evidence linking Robinson, from Aspen Walk, Belfast, to the attack.
These included CCTV footage, DNA analysis, phone records and internet browsing history.
“Such anxious and careful scrutiny of the whole of the evidence in this case compels the court to conclude that the defendant deliberately engaged and assisted in the targeting of Mr Ismay as the intended victim of this bomb attack,” he stated.
“The defendant knew that this bomb attack, if successful, would result in the death of Mr Ismay or the infliction of serious injury upon Mr Ismay and this was the intended outcome of his actions.”
The judge added: “Having examined and tested the individual strands of evidence in this case and the links between those strands and having carefully and anxiously scrutinised the entirety of the evidence in this case, I am compelled to conclude that the evidence establishes beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant Christopher Robinson was intimately and inextricably involved in the facilitation and execution of the terrorist operation which involved the attachment of a viable improvised explosive device to the underside of Mr Ismay’s vehicle with the intention of causing the death of Mr Ismay or causing him really serious injury.
“That device did explode when Mr Ismay was driving the vehicle and the injuries he suffered resulted in his death.”
Reasonable doubt
The judge said he had carefully examined the arguments of defence counsel to assess whether there was a reasonable doubt over Robinson’s guilt.
“I have found nothing,” he added. “I, therefore, am compelled to find the defendant guilty of the murder of Mr Adrian Ismay and I find him guilty of the possession of explosives with intent to endanger life.”
The judge made no finding in relation to an additional charge of providing property for the purpose of terrorism.
Robinson, who did not give evidence during his trial, was remanded in custody ahead of sentencing at a later date.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) welcomed the conviction.
Det Supt Richard Campbell said: “My thoughts today are first and foremost with Adrian’s grieving wife, his three children and wider family circle who are still coming to terms with the pain and loss they feel every day.”
He added: “I hope today’s conviction will provide some comfort for Adrian’s family. It should also serve as a warning to anyone involved in terrorism within our community that the PSNI will investigate these offences robustly and vigorously to bring offenders to justice.” - PA


theirishtimes--2020-03-07--Gardaí release man held over Kevin Lunney abduction

A man in his 30s arrested on Thursday in relation to the abduction and assault of Co Fermanagh businessman Kevin Lunney has been released without charge .
Mr Lunney , a director at Quinn Industrial Holdings ( QIH ) , was abducted outside his home near Derrylin , Co Fermanagh last September and later assaulted and tortured .
For almost a decade executives and companies involved in the management or acquisition of assets formerly owned by former billionaire Sean Quinn have been subjected to a campaign of violence .
Mr Quinn has condemned the violence and has said that those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his name .
The arrested man had been held at Cavan Garda station under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act 2007 .
A file will now be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions and investigations are continuing .
On Friday , the Police Service of Northern Ireland ( PSNI ) released three people who were also arrested in connection with the investigation .
Two men , aged 23 and 61 , and one woman aged 61 were detained in the Fermanagh area on Thursday on suspicion of conspiracy to kidnap , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ intent , and assisting offenders .
The Police Service of Northern Ireland ( PSNI ) announced their unconditional release from custody in Omagh police station on Friday .
The four arrests were part of a joint investigation between the PSNI and An Garda Síochána .
Anyone with information can contact police at Enniskillen on the non emergency number 101 , quoting reference 1748 17/09/19 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 .
The Garda can be contacted at Cavan Garda station ( 049 4368800 ) , the Garda confidential line ( 1800 666 111 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 25 ) or any Garda station .

A man in his 30s arrested on Thursday in relation to the abduction and assault of Kevin Lunney, has been released without charge. Photograph: Liam McBurney/PA Wire
A man in his 30s arrested on Thursday in relation to the abduction and assault of Co Fermanagh businessman Kevin Lunney has been released without charge.
Mr Lunney, a director at Quinn Industrial Holdings (QIH), was abducted outside his home near Derrylin, Co Fermanagh last September and later assaulted and tortured.
For almost a decade executives and companies involved in the management or acquisition of assets formerly owned by former billionaire Sean Quinn have been subjected to a campaign of violence. Mr Quinn has condemned the violence and has said that those carrying it out were not acting in his name.
The arrested man had been held at Cavan Garda station under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act 2007.
READ MORE
A file will now be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions and investigations are continuing.
On Friday, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) released three people who were also arrested in connection with the investigation.
Two men, aged 23 and 61, and one woman aged 61 were detained in the Fermanagh area on Thursday on suspicion of conspiracy to kidnap, conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm with intent, and assisting offenders.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) announced their unconditional release from custody in Omagh police station on Friday.
The four arrests were part of a joint investigation between the PSNI and An Garda Síochána.
Anyone with information can contact police at Enniskillen on the non emergency number 101, quoting reference 1748 17/09/19 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
The Garda can be contacted at Cavan Garda station (049 4368800), the Garda confidential line (1800 666 111), Crimestoppers (1800 25 00 25) or any Garda station.


theirishtimes--2020-03-07--The trouble with terrapins and two wild reptiles living in Ireland

The three small animals scattered at the tideline on Dublin ’ s Dollymount Strand ( see “ Eye on Nature ” ) were unmistakably turtles , if a bit boxy-looking compared with the oceanic kind .
They were actually freshwater terrapins , and immersion in cold seawater had left them very dead .
Last November another lifeless terrapin bobbed forlornly in the foam at Killiney beach on the southern shore of the bay .
One wonders if they were all launched gently , little legs beating away , in some desperate if deluded solution to their future , or just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ chance they ’ d survive .
The trouble with terrapins is that they grow .
Bought from a pet shop at the size of a tortoiseshell brooch , they go on enlarging , quite rapidly , to about 30cm long .
Their lifespan is lengthy , too , up to 50 years , perhaps beyond human enthusiasm or domestic arrangements .
Animal charities are left hosting rather more terrapins than they might wish , and Dublin Zoo has to keep a close eye for furtive introductions to its ponds .
To have had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , indeed , a bit ambitious , if they were to be properly looked after .
From the abundant online advice , I have sifted the following : The ideal provision is a deep outdoor pond and a land area with heating and lighting , all secured against the terrapins escaping or predatory herons intruding .
Indoors , it ’ s a big terrapin tub or 60-gallon fish tank , with water deep enough for the terrapins to swim in and submerge .
There should also be a dry area that gives each @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reptile heat lamp , with an extra UV lamp to boost its calcium .
Rocks , logs and plants are needed for shade and shelter , and floating toys - plastic ducks or ping-pong balls – to enrich their little lives .
Quite what they offer in return is not immediately obvious .
They are often prettily striped .
They have a sharp lift to the jaw as if about to ask a question , but don ’ t much care for being picked up in response , even carefully by the edges @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sliders ” because sliding off rocks into water is what they do in wetlands of America .
And they poop a great deal from a carefully varied and messily-eaten diet , so that the water needs powerful filtration or daily changes .
Even so , terrapins are often smelly .
A tortoise , say the bloggers , is less work and more fun .
The two common pet terrapins are the red-eared slider and the closely similar yellow-bellied sort .
The red-eared one , Trachemys scripta elegans , has been the most widely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ exported from the US between 1989-1997 .
More recently , the EU has banned the red-marked animals , which breed in the warmth of southern Europe and bring new parasites to native turtles .
In Ireland , three have been recorded as surviving “ wild ” in the Phoenix Park ( that ’ s the zoo ) , without breeding.
, The species is seen by Biodiversity Ireland as “ occasionally present , casual , vagrant , migratory ” , pending the uncertainties of climate change .
Meanwhile , given the approach of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more species of wild reptile living in Ireland are about to emerge from their winter refuges and look about for mates .
The most abundant , and our only native reptile , is the common lizard , Zootica vivipara , clustered mostly along the coasts .
I disturbed one while digging my garden in “ south-facing , damp , tussocky grassland ” , an ideal habitat , according to the Herpetological Society of Ireland .
I thank the HSI also for a new word , “ brumation ” , which is what cold-blooded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ down their metabolism for winter beneath a rock or log .
I ’ d like to picture a lizard now , however , emerging on to dry limestone in the Burren and feeling the warmth against its belly and tail and five-fingered claws .
First it needs to slough its old skin , then to establish a territory and find a female for much rough , nape-seizing copulation , mostly in May .
The lizard shares the Burren ’ s warmth with an alien but locally naturlised reptile , a legless lizard that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of its head is much enlarged and there ’ s perhaps 30 cm of smooth , shiny , cylindrical body curled between the spring gentians .
This is the slow-worm , Anguis fragilis , first reported in the Burren in 1977 , a time when New Age travellers from England were seeking seclusion in the Burren ’ s limestone wilderness .
They were widely credited with bringing the slow-worms with them , as pets ( as they were , indeed , for some of my schoolboy friends in Brighton ) .
The lizards @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seen , and have spread – slowly , as one might imagine – to the Burren ’ s wilder margins .
One was dropped by a heron on to a parked car in Galway , slightly denting the roof .

The lizard shares the Burren’s warmth with an alien but locally naturlised reptile, a legless lizard that most resembles a snake. Picture: Michael Viney
The three small animals scattered at the tideline on Dublin's Dollymount Strand (see "Eye on Nature") were unmistakably turtles, if a bit boxy-looking compared with the oceanic kind. They were actually freshwater terrapins, and immersion in cold seawater had left them very dead.
Last November another lifeless terrapin bobbed forlornly in the foam at Killiney beach on the southern shore of the bay. One wonders if they were all launched gently, little legs beating away, in some desperate if deluded solution to their future, or just chucked into the waves on the off chance they’d survive.
The trouble with terrapins is that they grow. Bought from a pet shop at the size of a tortoiseshell brooch, they go on enlarging, quite rapidly, to about 30cm long. Their lifespan is lengthy, too, up to 50 years, perhaps beyond human enthusiasm or domestic arrangements. Animal charities are left hosting rather more terrapins than they might wish, and Dublin Zoo has to keep a close eye for furtive introductions to its ponds.
To have had three of the turtle as pets seems, indeed, a bit ambitious, if they were to be properly looked after. From the abundant online advice, I have sifted the following:
READ MORE
The ideal provision is a deep outdoor pond and a land area with heating and lighting, all secured against the terrapins escaping or predatory herons intruding. Indoors, it’s a big terrapin tub or 60-gallon fish tank, with water deep enough for the terrapins to swim in and submerge.
They poop a great deal from a carefully varied and messily-eaten diet, so that the water needs powerful filtration or daily changes
There should also be a dry area that gives each turtle its spot to bask under a reptile heat lamp, with an extra UV lamp to boost its calcium. Rocks, logs and plants are needed for shade and shelter, and floating toys - plastic ducks or ping-pong balls – to enrich their little lives.
Quite what they offer in return is not immediately obvious. They are often prettily striped. They have a sharp lift to the jaw as if about to ask a question, but don’t much care for being picked up in response, even carefully by the edges.
They are commonly known as “sliders” because sliding off rocks into water is what they do in wetlands of America. And they poop a great deal from a carefully varied and messily-eaten diet, so that the water needs powerful filtration or daily changes. Even so, terrapins are often smelly. A tortoise, say the bloggers, is less work and more fun.
The two common pet terrapins are the red-eared slider and the closely similar yellow-bellied sort. The red-eared one, Trachemys scripta elegans, has been the most widely exported pet reptile, with 52 million exported from the US between 1989-1997.
More recently, the EU has banned the red-marked animals, which breed in the warmth of southern Europe and bring new parasites to native turtles. In Ireland, three have been recorded as surviving “wild” in the Phoenix Park (that’s the zoo), without breeding., The species is seen by Biodiversity Ireland as “occasionally present, casual, vagrant, migratory”, pending the uncertainties of climate change.
The most abundant, and our only native reptile, is the common lizard, Zootica vivipara, clustered mostly along the coasts
Meanwhile, given the approach of St Patrick’s Day, two more species of wild reptile living in Ireland are about to emerge from their winter refuges and look about for mates.
The most abundant, and our only native reptile, is the common lizard, Zootica vivipara, clustered mostly along the coasts. I disturbed one while digging my garden in “south-facing, damp, tussocky grassland”, an ideal habitat, according to the Herpetological Society of Ireland.
I thank the HSI also for a new word, “brumation”, which is what cold-blooded creatures have instead of hibernation, slowing down their metabolism for winter beneath a rock or log.
I’d like to picture a lizard now, however, emerging on to dry limestone in the Burren and feeling the warmth against its belly and tail and five-fingered claws. First it needs to slough its old skin, then to establish a territory and find a female for much rough, nape-seizing copulation, mostly in May.
The lizard shares the Burren’s warmth with an alien but locally naturlised reptile, a legless lizard that most resembles a snake. My drawing of its head is much enlarged and there’s perhaps 30 cm of smooth, shiny, cylindrical body curled between the spring gentians.
This is the slow-worm, Anguis fragilis, first reported in the Burren in 1977, a time when New Age travellers from England were seeking seclusion in the Burren’s limestone wilderness. They were widely credited with bringing the slow-worms with them, as pets (as they were, indeed, for some of my schoolboy friends in Brighton).
The lizards have done well, if still rarely seen, and have spread – slowly, as one might imagine – to the Burren’s wilder margins. One was dropped by a heron on to a parked car in Galway, slightly denting the roof.


theirishtimes--2020-03-07--BusConnects trees: Which species should we plant, where and how?

“ The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way ... ” Conflicts about the management of our trees and forests are nothing new , as this note from the poet William Blake in 1799 tells us .
However , the way Blake framed the conflict – aesthetic vision versus practicality – may actually be part of the problem .
Until society as a whole understands the broad range of benefits provided to us by trees , those who promote their proper management are likely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , minority , easy for “ realists ” and “ pragmatists ” to dismiss as enemies of the common good .
And that ’ s not good enough , in our era of climate and biodiversity crisis , when resolving such conflicts has become more urgent than ever , but also reveals their painful complexity .
The past year or two have seen a series of heated and ongoing discussions about how we should manage trees .
These have taken on particular intimacy and immediacy in small towns such as Fethard in Co @ @ @ @ @ @ @ where local communities have directly confronted council engineers about the removal , often without consultation , of well-loved street trees .
Meanwhile , many rural communities have been sharply divided over hedge-cutting , and the removal of roadside and farmland trees .
Sometimes the removals are driven , as in some urban areas , by fears of insurance claims for damage and injury .
Section 70 notices sent out by local councils , warning of private liability if trees fall on public roads , are sometimes received like licences for wanton destruction , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ There is a vicious circle here : trees are more likely to fall , causing damage , injury and death , due to more frequent extreme weather events driven by climate change .
Yet the trees that are removed , often with culpable lack of discrimination , themselves sequestered carbon .
So we are accelerating climate change , however marginally , by clearing them .
Sometimes rural removals are also , perversely , incentivised by the requirements for claiming EU single farm payments .
And now , large areas of the capital are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ National Transport Authority ’ s BusConnects plan , to remove many hundreds of trees to make way for new bus corridors .
This week the authority released a revised plan for BusConnects that will see the number of trees felled increase from 1,600 to 2,449 , though fewer “ mature ” trees will be chopped down .
“ Mapping surveys have now been largely completed , and the total number of trees , both roadside trees and off-road trees , impacted by the revised proposals is approximately 2,500 trees .
Most of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ planted trees .
The replanting scheme will see more trees replanted than the number removed.
” The BusConnects proposals highlight a core issue that the climate and biodiversity crisis is forcing upon us : the need to apply the grim principle of triage .
Triage is the system of prioritisation applied by medical workers on battlefields to decide which of the chronically wounded stand a sufficient chance of survival to merit surgery , leaving the others to die .
In the climate and biodiversity emergency , we can not always save everything .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Some very well-loved , and very useful , things may have to be sacrificed for the greater environmental and social good , or we may face systems collapse .
This daunting prospect raises two key questions : on what metrics should we base such troubling prioritisations ?
And whose expertise should carry most weight when such decisions are discussed ?
On the first question , some good work has been done in environmental economics , creating new pricing and valuation scales for costs and benefits that initially may appear fuzzy , or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ This field of study , based on concepts such as natural capital and ecosystem services , is still young and can be controversial .
But it has the core virtue of revealing a range of values in the environment that conventional economics ignores , to our increasing collective peril .
A neoliberal economist looks at a forest and , rather myopically , generally sees only one quantifiable value , the timber that can be sold as a commodity .
The environmental economist reminds us that the same forest is an ecosystem that supplies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Some are quantifiable , like carbon sequestration , pollination benefits to agriculture , flood mitigation and even tourism , health and social cohesion benefits from recreation .
Others , like the intrinsic value of biodiversity , or the aesthetic and spiritual qualities associated with woodlands , are impossible to quantify .
But they should also be acknowledged as having a real value to many people .
This kind of analysis gives the lie to a dominant dogma – that private profit is always somehow a public good .
In extracting timber , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in terms of climate , flooding , pollination , health and so on .
Where we allow them to extract , they should at least have to compensate us for these damages .
Applying this sort of analysis to BusConnects , we could at least begin to get some clarity on the issues under debate .
How much carbon do the trees proposed for removal currently remove from the atmosphere ?
How much less – or more – carbon will be emitted by cars and buses due to the new system ?
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ these arguments .
The NTA promises to plant as many or more trees as they remove .
But a sapling , and even a “ mature ” replanted tree , offers us much poorer ecosystem services – less sequestered carbon , less flood mitigation – than a century-old tree .
Indeed , it takes about 20 years for a tree to become carbon neutral .
That is , the carbon emitted in the process of nursery production , transportation , planting and early growth is greater than the tree is capable of storing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ two decades .
So new trees should be chosen for their longevity , among other factors .
Indeed , we need to hear a lot more about which species would be replanted , to ensure maximum climate and biodiversity benefits , including much higher rates of native species where feasible .
Why not , for example , extend the Native Woodlands Scheme , which has already enhanced one Dublin suburb , into inner city parklands and even brownfield sites ?
And perhaps a much more radical solution to current congestion might work out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cars from most of the city most of the time – and correspondingly enhance low carbon public transport , without widening the roads at all ?
On the other hand , if the NTA can demonstrate really significant net carbon benefits from BusConnects that require the removal of a significant number of trees , then some local communities may have to let some beloved elements of their homeplaces go .
That ’ s triage on the climate battlefield .
Some of the ideas outlined above , like recognising the full range of services @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a little arcane .
But the really mysterious thing is that they are all already embedded in existing official plans , from EU legislation to local authority level , yet still have very little impact on what happens in the real world .
All three Dublin county councils have sophisticated tree strategies that recognise and highlight all the services trees provide .
And a conversation with Leslie Moore , head of park services for Dublin City Council , and trees officer Ludovic Beaumont suggests that they are responding imaginatively to new challenges .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ends this year .
Moore says they have learned a lot while implementing it , and will reflect that knowledge in the next version .
The council has been developing innovative “ greening ” programmes with strong community co-operation in several areas : the Liberties , the northeast inner city and ( just starting ) in Stoneybatter .
Experience has shown that the concept “ right tree , right place ” is much more complex and site-specific than a simple list of appropriate and inappropriate species for urban planting .
Moore stresses that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ size does not fit all .
The problems associated with certain species – cherry trees churning up pavements , for example , or the very large and thick leaves of London plane trees blocking drains – has received a lot of publicity .
But while new species are being trialled , that does not mean that these two species – great favourites with many people – are going to disappear from our urban landscapes .
Moore and Beaumont point out that a whole suite of benefits and costs have to be taken into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ where : aesthetics , biodiversity , climate impacts , storm water management and even history .
“ There is a historical expectation that certain great avenues will be lined with big trees like plane trees , ” says Beaumont .
And of course plane trees have always long been welcomed in cities because of their capacity to absorb air pollution .
As for cherries , new varieties are being produced with less troublesome roots .
But Moore stresses that the solutions often have as much to do with planting techniques as with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for space on streets with utility cables and pipes underground , with traffic and pedestrians at ground level , and with utility cables and wires again at crown level .
One increasingly frequent solution to competition at ground level is the “ build-out ” , a projection into the street for tree planting that leaves plenty of footpath space for buggies and wheelchairs .
These also have the effect of slowing down urban traffic , though not all motorists will be enthusiastic .
Much damage to footpaths is due underground competition between roots @ @ @ @ @ @ @ damage ) .
The answer is to ensure in advance , through pit and sometimes crate structures , that each tree planted has enough space to allow its roots to develop naturally .
It ’ s evident that this has not always been done in the past .
While native tree species are now preferred ( for biodiversity reasons ) for new planting in Dublin ’ s parks , some are unsuitable for street planting because of their structure , habits or lifespan .
Rowan , for example , have been found to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their branches too carelessly .
So exotics such as the Japanese pagoda tree ( Sophora japonica ) and American sweetgum ( Liquidambar styraciflua ) are likely to become more familiar .
But we will also be seeing more of our own silver birch , and a particularly beautiful native , the Scots pine , is now favoured for coastal planting .
The cultural fetish for “ tidiness ” has often dictated the planting of the same species at the same age in a particular area .
But Moore says this has already been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ avoid the rapid spread of disease , and an uneven age structure , so that the urban forest can be renewed gradually , without sudden wholesale removals at the end of a life cycle .
It is clear that a great deal of fresh thought is going into our urban tree strategies .
But there is still a widespread concern that these strategies seem to carry too little weight when the big infrastructural decisions , with massive environmental impacts , come to be made .
That ’ s still the realm of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ politicians and the business people listen to .
One insider , who has worked in another county council , describes the prevailing environmental culture in our national and local governmental institutions like this : “ Environmental and biodiversity experts are appointed to apparently significant positions , but they are brought into key discussions too late .
The tree policies they create are good , but they are not high enough on the agenda .
“ Biodiversity , green infrastructure , trees – they are all seen as being cosmetic add-ons at best .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ are proposing is what makes the economy work .
And you come here to talk about trees ?
What we are doing is far more important.
’ “ We need a shift in our whole culture , ” he continues .
“ We need our society to understand that trees are not only important because we like a particular tree on our street .
We need to value trees rationally , for the whole range of jobs they do for us.
” History may show us that , in this century , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ understand that trees are not just timber , not just things standing in the way of progress , and not only objects of great beauty , but complex systems on which our wellbeing , and very probably our survival , ultimately depends .
Paddy Woodworth is a member of the steering committee of the Irish Forum on Natural Capital

“The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way...”
Conflicts about the management of our trees and forests are nothing new, as this note from the poet William Blake in 1799 tells us.
However, the way Blake framed the conflict – aesthetic vision versus practicality – may actually be part of the problem. Until society as a whole understands the broad range of benefits provided to us by trees, those who promote their proper management are likely to remain a marginalised, if high-minded, minority, easy for “realists” and “pragmatists” to dismiss as enemies of the common good.
And that’s not good enough, in our era of climate and biodiversity crisis, when resolving such conflicts has become more urgent than ever, but also reveals their painful complexity.
READ MORE
Sometimes the removals are driven by fears of insurance claims for damage and injury
The past year or two have seen a series of heated and ongoing discussions about how we should manage trees. These have taken on particular intimacy and immediacy in small towns such as Fethard in Co Tipperary and Skerries in Co Dublin, where local communities have directly confronted council engineers about the removal, often without consultation, of well-loved street trees.
Meanwhile, many rural communities have been sharply divided over hedge-cutting, and the removal of roadside and farmland trees. Sometimes the removals are driven, as in some urban areas, by fears of insurance claims for damage and injury. Section 70 notices sent out by local councils, warning of private liability if trees fall on public roads, are sometimes received like licences for wanton destruction, whether trees are dangerous or not.
There is a vicious circle here: trees are more likely to fall, causing damage, injury and death, due to more frequent extreme weather events driven by climate change. Yet the trees that are removed, often with culpable lack of discrimination, themselves sequestered carbon. So we are accelerating climate change, however marginally, by clearing them.
Merrion Road, Dublin. Photograph: Tom Honan
Sometimes rural removals are also, perversely, incentivised by the requirements for claiming EU single farm payments.
And now, large areas of the capital are understandably agitated by proposals, under the National Transport Authority’s BusConnects plan, to remove many hundreds of trees to make way for new bus corridors.
In the climate and biodiversity emergency, we cannot always save everything. But we must get our priorities right
This week the authority released a revised plan for BusConnects that will see the number of trees felled increase from 1,600 to 2,449, though fewer “mature” trees will be chopped down.
“Mapping surveys have now been largely completed, and the total number of trees, both roadside trees and off-road trees, impacted by the revised proposals is approximately 2,500 trees. Most of the off-road trees are smaller, more recently planted trees. The replanting scheme will see more trees replanted than the number removed.”
Trees lining the roadway at Fairview park earmarked for felling by Dublin City Council, 2017. Photograph: Dave Meehan
The BusConnects proposals highlight a core issue that the climate and biodiversity crisis is forcing upon us: the need to apply the grim principle of triage.
Triage is the system of prioritisation applied by medical workers on battlefields to decide which of the chronically wounded stand a sufficient chance of survival to merit surgery, leaving the others to die. In the climate and biodiversity emergency, we cannot always save everything. But we must get our priorities right.
Some very well-loved, and very useful, things may have to be sacrificed for the greater environmental and social good, or we may face systems collapse.
Attaching weight
This daunting prospect raises two key questions: on what metrics should we base such troubling prioritisations? And whose expertise should carry most weight when such decisions are discussed?
On the first question, some good work has been done in environmental economics, creating new pricing and valuation scales for costs and benefits that initially may appear fuzzy, or to be comparing apples and oranges. This field of study, based on concepts such as natural capital and ecosystem services, is still young and can be controversial.
But it has the core virtue of revealing a range of values in the environment that conventional economics ignores, to our increasing collective peril. A neoliberal economist looks at a forest and, rather myopically, generally sees only one quantifiable value, the timber that can be sold as a commodity.
The environmental economist reminds us that the same forest is an ecosystem that supplies us with many other services besides timber. Some are quantifiable, like carbon sequestration, pollination benefits to agriculture, flood mitigation and even tourism, health and social cohesion benefits from recreation.
Others, like the intrinsic value of biodiversity, or the aesthetic and spiritual qualities associated with woodlands, are impossible to quantify. But they should also be acknowledged as having a real value to many people.
This kind of analysis gives the lie to a dominant dogma – that private profit is always somehow a public good. In extracting timber, our individual entrepreneur is costing us all in terms of climate, flooding, pollination, health and so on. Where we allow them to extract, they should at least have to compensate us for these damages.
Applying this sort of analysis to BusConnects, we could at least begin to get some clarity on the issues under debate. How much carbon do the trees proposed for removal currently remove from the atmosphere? How much less – or more – carbon will be emitted by cars and buses due to the new system?
And we will need to dig deeper behind these arguments. The NTA promises to plant as many or more trees as they remove. But a sapling, and even a “mature” replanted tree, offers us much poorer ecosystem services – less sequestered carbon, less flood mitigation – than a century-old tree.
Indeed, it takes about 20 years for a tree to become carbon neutral. That is, the carbon emitted in the process of nursery production, transportation, planting and early growth is greater than the tree is capable of storing, with the balance only reversing after two decades. So new trees should be chosen for their longevity, among other factors.
Perhaps a much more radical solution to current congestion might work out better all round – ban all private cars from most of the city most of the time
Indeed, we need to hear a lot more about which species would be replanted, to ensure maximum climate and biodiversity benefits, including much higher rates of native species where feasible. Why not, for example, extend the Native Woodlands Scheme, which has already enhanced one Dublin suburb, into inner city parklands and even brownfield sites?
And perhaps a much more radical solution to current congestion might work out better all round – ban all private cars from most of the city most of the time – and correspondingly enhance low carbon public transport, without widening the roads at all?
On the other hand, if the NTA can demonstrate really significant net carbon benefits from BusConnects that require the removal of a significant number of trees, then some local communities may have to let some beloved elements of their homeplaces go. That’s triage on the climate battlefield.
Real world
Some of the ideas outlined above, like recognising the full range of services provided by an ecosystem, may seem a little arcane. But the really mysterious thing is that they are all already embedded in existing official plans, from EU legislation to local authority level, yet still have very little impact on what happens in the real world.
All three Dublin county councils have sophisticated tree strategies that recognise and highlight all the services trees provide. And a conversation with Leslie Moore, head of park services for Dublin City Council, and trees officer Ludovic Beaumont suggests that they are responding imaginatively to new challenges.
The current Dublin City Council trees strategy ends this year. Moore says they have learned a lot while implementing it, and will reflect that knowledge in the next version.
Red ribbons around trees on Baggot Street, Dublin. Photograph: Dara Mac Donaill
The council has been developing innovative “greening” programmes with strong community co-operation in several areas: the Liberties, the northeast inner city and (just starting) in Stoneybatter. Experience has shown that the concept “right tree, right place” is much more complex and site-specific than a simple list of appropriate and inappropriate species for urban planting.
Moore stresses that each street has specific characteristics. One size does not fit all.
The problems associated with certain species – cherry trees churning up pavements, for example, or the very large and thick leaves of London plane trees blocking drains – has received a lot of publicity.
But while new species are being trialled, that does not mean that these two species – great favourites with many people – are going to disappear from our urban landscapes.
Moore and Beaumont point out that a whole suite of benefits and costs have to be taken into account when considering which trees to plant where: aesthetics, biodiversity, climate impacts, storm water management and even history.
Much damage to footpaths is due underground competition between roots and utilities (which can also suffer damage)
“There is a historical expectation that certain great avenues will be lined with big trees like plane trees,” says Beaumont. And of course plane trees have always long been welcomed in cities because of their capacity to absorb air pollution. As for cherries, new varieties are being produced with less troublesome roots.
But Moore stresses that the solutions often have as much to do with planting techniques as with the species and variety selected. Trees compete for space on streets with utility cables and pipes underground, with traffic and pedestrians at ground level, and with utility cables and wires again at crown level.
One increasingly frequent solution to competition at ground level is the “build-out”, a projection into the street for tree planting that leaves plenty of footpath space for buggies and wheelchairs. These also have the effect of slowing down urban traffic, though not all motorists will be enthusiastic.
Much damage to footpaths is due underground competition between roots and utilities (which can also suffer damage). The answer is to ensure in advance, through pit and sometimes crate structures, that each tree planted has enough space to allow its roots to develop naturally. It’s evident that this has not always been done in the past.
Cllr Paddy McCartan beside a plane tree on Merrion Road. Photograph: Tom Honan
Street-worthiness
While native tree species are now preferred (for biodiversity reasons) for new planting in Dublin’s parks, some are unsuitable for street planting because of their structure, habits or lifespan.
Rowan, for example, have been found to be too short-lived, while willow scatter their branches too carelessly. So exotics such as the Japanese pagoda tree (Sophora japonica) and American sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) are likely to become more familiar. But we will also be seeing more of our own silver birch, and a particularly beautiful native, the Scots pine, is now favoured for coastal planting.
The cultural fetish for “tidiness” has often dictated the planting of the same species at the same age in a particular area. But Moore says this has already been replaced by more species variation, to avoid the rapid spread of disease, and an uneven age structure, so that the urban forest can be renewed gradually, without sudden wholesale removals at the end of a life cycle.
Environmental and biodiversity experts are appointed to apparently significant positions, but they are brought into key discussions too late
It is clear that a great deal of fresh thought is going into our urban tree strategies. But there is still a widespread concern that these strategies seem to carry too little weight when the big infrastructural decisions, with massive environmental impacts, come to be made. That’s still the realm of the engineers; that’s who the politicians and the business people listen to.
One insider, who has worked in another county council, describes the prevailing environmental culture in our national and local governmental institutions like this: “Environmental and biodiversity experts are appointed to apparently significant positions, but they are brought into key discussions too late. The tree policies they create are good, but they are not high enough on the agenda.
“Biodiversity, green infrastructure, trees – they are all seen as being cosmetic add-ons at best. The engineers say: ‘What we are proposing is what makes the economy work. And you come here to talk about trees? What we are doing is far more important.’
“We need a shift in our whole culture,” he continues. “We need our society to understand that trees are not only important because we like a particular tree on our street. We need to value trees rationally, for the whole range of jobs they do for us.”
History may show us that, in this century, the truly practically minded people are those who understand that trees are not just timber, not just things standing in the way of progress, and not only objects of great beauty, but complex systems on which our wellbeing, and very probably our survival, ultimately depends.
Paddy Woodworth is a member of the steering committee of the Irish Forum on Natural Capital


theirishtimes--2020-03-07--What are these washed up on Dollymount Strand? Readers’ nature queries

My sister saw three of these washed up on Dollymount beach .
They were dead and about the size of a small water bottle .
– Audrey O ’ Flaherty , Swords , Co Dublin .
Prof Grace Flannery identified them as North American freshwater terrapins , either red-eared sliders or yellow-belly sliders .
They are sold in pet shops and she says that they are often dumped by irresponsible pet owners when they grow too big for their enclosures .
Every day we have two seagulls who seem to do a foot-stomping dance outside our office window .
Some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
– Karl Jennings , Santry , Dublin , 9 .
Yes , they are dancing , simulating raindrops , to induce worms to come to the surface .
We can ’ t identify this bird and would be delighted to know what it is .
– Mary Fagan , Abbeydorney , Co Kerry .
It ’ s a goldfinch .
When walking on Donabate beach last month I saw six jellyfish and wondered is it unusual to see them at this time of year .
– Mary Counihan , Ballyboughal , Co @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on Portmarnock beach .
I can ’ t find it in my water life book .
– Emily O ’ Byrne , Batterstown , Co Meath .
They are both barrel jellyfish , Rhizostoma pulmo .
Usually seen in summer , they were carried in from far out at sea by the February storms .
These clams , Arctica islandica , littered the beach at Benone , Co Derry in the last week of February .
Recent storms have dislodged them from their sandy subtidal habitat .
– Michael Cross , Limavady , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and photographs at Thallabawn , Louisburgh , Co Mayo F28 F978 , or by email at viney @ anu.ie .
Please include a postal address .

My sister saw three of these washed up on Dollymount beach. They were dead and about the size of a small water bottle. – Audrey O'Flaherty, Swords, Co Dublin.
Prof Grace Flannery identified them as North American freshwater terrapins, either red-eared sliders or yellow-belly sliders. They are sold in pet shops and she says that they are often dumped by irresponsible pet owners when they grow too big for their enclosures.
Every day we have two seagulls who seem to do a foot-stomping dance outside our office window. Some reckon it's getting worms up. – Karl Jennings, Santry, Dublin, 9.
Yes, they are dancing, simulating raindrops, to induce worms to come to the surface.
Mary Fagan’s goldfinch
We can't identify this bird and would be delighted to know what it is. – Mary Fagan, Abbeydorney, Co Kerry.
It's a goldfinch.
Barrel jellyfish, as spotted by Mary Counihan and Emily O’Byrne
When walking on Donabate beach last month I saw six jellyfish and wondered is it unusual to see them at this time of year. – Mary Counihan, Ballyboughal, Co Dublin.
We came across this jellyfish on Portmarnock beach. I can't find it in my water life book. – Emily O'Byrne, Batterstown, Co Meath.
They are both barrel jellyfish, Rhizostoma pulmo. Usually seen in summer, they were carried in from far out at sea by the February storms.
READ MORE
Clams on the beach in Benone, Co Derry by Michael Cross
These clams, Arctica islandica, littered the beach at Benone, Co Derry in the last week of February. Recent storms have dislodged them from their sandy subtidal habitat. – Michael Cross, Limavady, Co Derry.
[ viney@anu.ie ]