It may be early 2011 before heavy construction work begins on the proposed Metro North rail line because of delays caused by requests for further information by An Bord Pleanála.
An oral hearing into the proposed multi-billion euro light rail line between St Stephen’s Green and Swords in Dublin began in April, but was suspended after An Bord Pleanála requested a significant amount of extra information from the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA).
An RPA spokesman said the agency was working ‘‘flat out’’ to submit this information by October.
Two consortiums have gone through to the ‘best and final offer’ stage for the contract to build the Metro. The Metro Express consortium includes AIB, Transdev and Sisk; while the Celtic Metro Group is composed of foreign operators and headed by Japanese investment group Mitsui.
One well-placed source said there was ‘‘a degree of frustration’’ at the suspension of the oral hearing, which would delay the planning process by at least six months. ‘‘It is hard to see why this information could not have been requested much earlier in the process, or why the planning inspector wasn’t supplied with this information in the first place by the RPA. This adds additional costs to our bid, and also delays the granting of the Railway Order.
‘‘We can only put in our best and final offer when this is signed off,” the source said. ‘‘Realistically speaking, it will be autumn next year before the winner’s blueprint will be fine-tuned, so it could be 2011 before heavy construction actually starts.”
However, RPA spokesman Tom Manning disputed this claim and said they would be ‘‘ready to go on enabling works’’ if and when the Railway Order was granted for the project. ‘‘We are working flat out to assist the board and we expect the oral hearing will be re-convened after they have received the extra information.
The Railway Order application is part of this process, and we have had meetings with the two consortiums to outline our position,” he said.
Separately, The Sunday Business Post understands that the two consortiums will not request any capital from the government at the initial stage of the project and will instead offer a 100 per cent ‘mortgage’ on the project - to be paid back over a period such as 25 years.
Sunday Business Post
www.buckplanning.ie
Sunday, 9 August 2009
DDDA at risk of massive losses on Ringsend site
An investment of more than €100 million by the Dublin Docklands Development Authority(DDDA) is at risk of being almost wiped out in the coming weeks.
The Environmental Protection Agency( EPA) is in the process of deciding on an application by Becbay, a joint venture between the DDDA and two property developers, to declare the former Irish Glass Bottle site in Ringsend, ‘‘clean’’ and ready for development.
The DDDA is a 26 per cent partner in Becbay, alongside developers Bernard McNamara and Derek Quinlan. They paid €412 million for the 25acre site in 2006. According to the DDDA’s 2007 annual report, it loaned the joint venture company almost €40 million that year to fund the cleaning up of the site.
Minutes of DDDA board meetings from last year, seen by The Sunday Business Post, show that the state agency has also made further loans to the joint venture firm. A DDDA spokeswoman refused to divulge the amounts, saying it was ‘‘commercially sensitive information.” She refused to comment any further.
However, a former EPA inspector has objected to Becbay’s application to have the site declared clean and alleges that significant environmental hazards remain on the site.
If the EPA agrees with his assessment, it will mean that the site cannot be developed at present. That would massively reduce the value of the site, which has already fallen significantly because of the collapse in the property market.
Such a move would undermine the finances of the DDDA. Its last published accounts show that it held net assets of €177 million.
However, informed sources say that its accounts for 2008 - which have been delayed since June, but are expected to be published next month - will show huge write-downs.
Much of the financing for the Ringsend project was provided by Anglo Irish Bank.
Anglo directors Sean FitzPatrick and Lar Bradshaw were both previously directors of the DDDA, although they resigned their positions earlier this year.
Sunday Business Post
www.buckplanning.ie
The Environmental Protection Agency( EPA) is in the process of deciding on an application by Becbay, a joint venture between the DDDA and two property developers, to declare the former Irish Glass Bottle site in Ringsend, ‘‘clean’’ and ready for development.
The DDDA is a 26 per cent partner in Becbay, alongside developers Bernard McNamara and Derek Quinlan. They paid €412 million for the 25acre site in 2006. According to the DDDA’s 2007 annual report, it loaned the joint venture company almost €40 million that year to fund the cleaning up of the site.
Minutes of DDDA board meetings from last year, seen by The Sunday Business Post, show that the state agency has also made further loans to the joint venture firm. A DDDA spokeswoman refused to divulge the amounts, saying it was ‘‘commercially sensitive information.” She refused to comment any further.
However, a former EPA inspector has objected to Becbay’s application to have the site declared clean and alleges that significant environmental hazards remain on the site.
If the EPA agrees with his assessment, it will mean that the site cannot be developed at present. That would massively reduce the value of the site, which has already fallen significantly because of the collapse in the property market.
Such a move would undermine the finances of the DDDA. Its last published accounts show that it held net assets of €177 million.
However, informed sources say that its accounts for 2008 - which have been delayed since June, but are expected to be published next month - will show huge write-downs.
Much of the financing for the Ringsend project was provided by Anglo Irish Bank.
Anglo directors Sean FitzPatrick and Lar Bradshaw were both previously directors of the DDDA, although they resigned their positions earlier this year.
Sunday Business Post
www.buckplanning.ie
Goodman's oil plan rejected
Beef baron Larry Goodman's plans for a waste facility for used cooking oils at his meat processing plant in Ballymun in north Dublin has been rejected by Fingal County Council.
The businessman, through his companies AIBP and Agri Energy, sought planning permission to change part of the processing plant from meat to a waste water facility for the collection, storage and distribution of used cooking oils.
He also sought permission for storage tanks for the oil at the 16.5-acre site next to Dublin airport.
However, the local authority found that "development of the kind proposed would be premature pending the adoption and publication" of a local area plan.
It also found that AIBP had "not adequately demonstrated that the proposed development complies" with the zoning objective of the area.
"On this basis, it is considered that the development would materially contravene the land use zoning objective and would set an undesirable precedent for similar inappropriate development in the area and as such would be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area," it said.
AIBP had said there is a "significant demand" for collection of used cooking oil as it "causes significant problems with the foul effluent drainage network in conurbations as it solidifies in pipes and causes numerous pumping and blockages of drains".
Sunday Tribune
www.buckplanning.ie
The businessman, through his companies AIBP and Agri Energy, sought planning permission to change part of the processing plant from meat to a waste water facility for the collection, storage and distribution of used cooking oils.
He also sought permission for storage tanks for the oil at the 16.5-acre site next to Dublin airport.
However, the local authority found that "development of the kind proposed would be premature pending the adoption and publication" of a local area plan.
It also found that AIBP had "not adequately demonstrated that the proposed development complies" with the zoning objective of the area.
"On this basis, it is considered that the development would materially contravene the land use zoning objective and would set an undesirable precedent for similar inappropriate development in the area and as such would be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area," it said.
AIBP had said there is a "significant demand" for collection of used cooking oil as it "causes significant problems with the foul effluent drainage network in conurbations as it solidifies in pipes and causes numerous pumping and blockages of drains".
Sunday Tribune
www.buckplanning.ie
Developers face €12m bill after getting racecourse go-ahead
Developers Flynn & O'Flaherty will have to pay more than €12m to Fingal County Council after it received the go-ahead for a new village at the former Phoenix Park racecourse in Ashtown in Dublin. The money will be paid in phases as a contribution towards the local authority's spending on public infrastructure and facilities that benefit the development.
Dubbed Park Village, the new scheme will have about 400 homes, a nine-storey 168-bedroom hotel, 23 shops, 20 office units, a medical centre, crèche and three restaurants and bars.
The village is part of a wider redevelopment of the 118-acre site which was acquired by the developer in 1998 in a €47m deal. The Phoenix Park racecourse closed in 1990. Former owners of the land include property developer Patrick Gallagher, whose empire later collapsed.
It was bought by US leisure company Ogden Group for about €12.7m in 1993, which later unveiled plans for a casino. The government decided against amending legislation to allow it go ahead.
The site was later bought by low-profile Flaherty O'Flynn, which developed the Pavilions shopping centre in Swords.
Sunday Tribune
www.buckplanning.ie
Dubbed Park Village, the new scheme will have about 400 homes, a nine-storey 168-bedroom hotel, 23 shops, 20 office units, a medical centre, crèche and three restaurants and bars.
The village is part of a wider redevelopment of the 118-acre site which was acquired by the developer in 1998 in a €47m deal. The Phoenix Park racecourse closed in 1990. Former owners of the land include property developer Patrick Gallagher, whose empire later collapsed.
It was bought by US leisure company Ogden Group for about €12.7m in 1993, which later unveiled plans for a casino. The government decided against amending legislation to allow it go ahead.
The site was later bought by low-profile Flaherty O'Flynn, which developed the Pavilions shopping centre in Swords.
Sunday Tribune
www.buckplanning.ie
Estates of emergency
They were promised regeneration. Now the residents of many of Dublin's most under-privileged estates – half-boarded and destitute – face worsening not better conditions.
After developer Bernard McNamara pulled out of a scheme to redevelop local authority schemes last year, Dublin City Council established a special task force to review some of the capital's most run-down and bleak estates. Now, the review results are coming in – and many residents who thought their homes were in line for a facelift look set to be disappointed, and left living in half-boarded up estates.
Croke Villas
Hidden under the looming shadow of Croke Park and half boarded-up, Croke Villas stands as a stark contrast to the economically thriving stadium. The thousands who pass through the turnstiles of Croke Park need never come into contact with this estate just minutes away, which from the outside looks like a derelict site. However, at least 100 people are trapped in what they describe as limbo, now that their regeneration plans have fallen foul of developers and economics.
In a document circulated by Dublin City Council and seen by the Sunday Tribune, the current status of the city regeneration projects has been laid bare. In the cold context of Croke Villas it is stated: "Public Private Partnership competition abandoned. Working group established to examine all options for the re-development of this site." While the document goes on to re-affirm the council's commitment to the area, residents tell a different story. "We are considering setting up a new account and putting all the rent into it, and not giving it to the council until they start to open their eyes," says Paula Mitchell, long-time resident of the villas and chair of the Croke Park Residents' Association.
"The conditions here are dire. The maintenance has been cut [Dublin City Council announced a €30m cut in maintenance-funding recently] and we are living in dereliction. One girl who lives on the bottom floor is surrounded on both sides by nothing but empty boarded-up flats from those who were moved on. How can we live here anymore? This place is cold, it's creepy, desolate and unfriendly. It is dangerous – there are drug addicts on the site, and left any longer it will spiral out of control."
Mitchell articulates the disappointment of hundreds of other tenants across Dublin when she speaks of the broken promises on projects like Croke Villas. In the words of lord mayor of Dublin Emer Costello, on the promises of developers and public private partnership schemes: "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." Costello is currently putting pressure on housing minister Michael Finneran to visit the villas in person "to see with his own eyes the conditions these people are living in – conditions no human should have to live in".
Now, the residents are taking matters into their own hands and looking to find an architect to draw up regeneration plans. They estimate the figure for the council to revitalise the area will be in the region of €6m, a relatively small amount, says Costello. "In comparison to other projects, it really is not that much. Given that these people decided not to leave and de-tenant as they had faith and believed in the commitment to re-build the community, it is a small price to ask.
"This wasn't just a housing regeneration. It was a social regeneration too. Residents waited and stuck with it. And so it is the people who bought into this model that are the ones who suffer the worst. Without a doubt, they are betrayed and they cannot be left high and dry while those who caused this mess walk away without consequence."
When Costello speaks of those who have scarpered, she refers to both councilors and developers. The empty flats in Croke Villas combined with a newly settled sense of despair have led to an increase in anti-social behaviour – something various different lobby groups maintain they had been brought to an all-time low by promises of change and better living conditions.
Pest infestations have become a common feature for the miniscule flats as the unoccupied units are left to fester and decay. One of the residents recently approached Dublin Inner City Partnership boss Patrick Gates to tell him she feared leaving her flat after coming out to find an addict snorting cocaine on her balcony. This is a practice the residents say was dying out when all involved looked towards a future of new homes.
A short while away in St Teresa's Gardens the situation is strikingly similar...
St Teresa's Gardens
When Dublin City Council established its regeneration task force for these predominantly inner city areas, three developments were categorised as priority and given the green light. These were O'Devaney Gardens, St Michael's Estate and Dominick Street. What has come to light, however, is that St Teresa's Gardens was fourth on that list – not quite important enough to get the coveted council consent.
Just last week, the news that residents dreaded arrived yet again in the form of a council committee meeting document outlining the task review results. "St Teresa's Gardens, review completed. Project board has decided to abandon the competition for this project." Seventy flats lie empty and the rest are occupied by those who opted into the plans.
"Of all the regeneration projects that we thought would be put on the back burner, we really thought that this would not be one of them. We are shocked, saddened and a certain sense of apathy, which is dangerous in itself, is starting to show here," says resident Kris Taylor. She has taken the same tack as those in Croke Villas and has started to look towards ways in which the community as a whole can renew the area. Ten years ago St Teresa's, in the midst of drug pushers, criminal activity and violence, began a project of renewal. Now a decade and a dozen promises later, Taylor is not hopeful for a future funded by developers or council bodies.
Worryingly, a growing number of suicides in the estate have added to the morale of devastation shrouding this area. "We are going to set up some kind of counselling board of our own. It looks like we will need to take matters into our own hands now from the full-scale regeneration right down to the recycling." There are some matters, however, that neither Taylor nor her neighbours can deal with themselves. "The estate is overflowing with rubbish, families are overcrowded in their small flats. Moreover, strangers are coming in among the area our children play in to buy their drugs off pushers. We are truly devastated."
Taylor believes this potent sense of disappointment is not relieved by the fact that the development came in at only fourth on the council's list and affirms that there is a palpable feeling that areas like O'Devaney Gardens and the attention given to their situation overshadowed the plight of St Teresa's Gardens.
Councillor Críona Ní Dhálaigh has been a constant campaigner within Dublin City Council to push this particular project back onto the agenda. Her brief of the area tallies with Taylor's. "Families of five and six are cramping into two bedroom flats. Teenagers are in bedrooms with younger siblings and some even with their parents.
"We owe the residents certain things from promising to push this matter further and seek funding for regeneration. But we are obliged to deliver them other things that have also been promised and not delivered. The residents were given a guarantee that maintenance would always be a top priority, but already, due to cutbacks, some of the caretaking services have been withdrawn, which is not acceptable." Ní Dhálaigh believes that St Teresa's Gardens and those living within cannot afford to be put on indefinite hold, and that the situation in areas like these may soon to turn sour should the waiting list grow any longer.
Mountainview Court
From the vantage point of an unacquainted passerby, Mountainview Court in Dublin 1 is nothing but a demolition site where run-down flat complexes once stood. To the informed observer, this site was to hold facilities necessary for the successful social regeneration of inner-city communities in Dublin. What was to be the site for a new senior citizen's home, the new location for the Lourdes Health Centre, a crèche and various other facilities is now nothing more than the rubble and remains left by the previous residents, who have now been moved on. According to the council documents: "This project has been terminated as the only remaining bidder could not secure funding. Alternative options for the re-development of this site are being examined."
Lord mayor Costello expresses particular rage over the shelving of this project, especially in relation to the Lourdes Health Centre, which was due to be relocated from its current – and insufficient – base on Sean MacDermott Street. This year, the centre celebrated 30 years of caring for the needs of the elderly in inner-city Dublin. With only three members of full-time staff caring for approximately 178 people a month, the relocation was set to give a major boost to the quality of service received by those attending. "It is a major let-down once again," says Costello. "They are now back to the drawing board on a possible, more suitable location. The work they do is of vital importance."
Countless other schemes like these have been put on "indefinite hold", and residents trapped in the nightmare that is regeneration continue tirelessly to campaign for a better quality of life and the enactment of promises made long ago. The message is clear in the eyes of Patrick Gates of the Inner City Partnership : "There must never again be a reliance on developers driven toward financial gain and not community benefit. There needs to be a complete re-look, and in a holistic way, or else the consequences will be fierce. Bricks and mortar alone will not solve this."
Sunday Tribune
www.buckplanning.ie
After developer Bernard McNamara pulled out of a scheme to redevelop local authority schemes last year, Dublin City Council established a special task force to review some of the capital's most run-down and bleak estates. Now, the review results are coming in – and many residents who thought their homes were in line for a facelift look set to be disappointed, and left living in half-boarded up estates.
Croke Villas
Hidden under the looming shadow of Croke Park and half boarded-up, Croke Villas stands as a stark contrast to the economically thriving stadium. The thousands who pass through the turnstiles of Croke Park need never come into contact with this estate just minutes away, which from the outside looks like a derelict site. However, at least 100 people are trapped in what they describe as limbo, now that their regeneration plans have fallen foul of developers and economics.
In a document circulated by Dublin City Council and seen by the Sunday Tribune, the current status of the city regeneration projects has been laid bare. In the cold context of Croke Villas it is stated: "Public Private Partnership competition abandoned. Working group established to examine all options for the re-development of this site." While the document goes on to re-affirm the council's commitment to the area, residents tell a different story. "We are considering setting up a new account and putting all the rent into it, and not giving it to the council until they start to open their eyes," says Paula Mitchell, long-time resident of the villas and chair of the Croke Park Residents' Association.
"The conditions here are dire. The maintenance has been cut [Dublin City Council announced a €30m cut in maintenance-funding recently] and we are living in dereliction. One girl who lives on the bottom floor is surrounded on both sides by nothing but empty boarded-up flats from those who were moved on. How can we live here anymore? This place is cold, it's creepy, desolate and unfriendly. It is dangerous – there are drug addicts on the site, and left any longer it will spiral out of control."
Mitchell articulates the disappointment of hundreds of other tenants across Dublin when she speaks of the broken promises on projects like Croke Villas. In the words of lord mayor of Dublin Emer Costello, on the promises of developers and public private partnership schemes: "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." Costello is currently putting pressure on housing minister Michael Finneran to visit the villas in person "to see with his own eyes the conditions these people are living in – conditions no human should have to live in".
Now, the residents are taking matters into their own hands and looking to find an architect to draw up regeneration plans. They estimate the figure for the council to revitalise the area will be in the region of €6m, a relatively small amount, says Costello. "In comparison to other projects, it really is not that much. Given that these people decided not to leave and de-tenant as they had faith and believed in the commitment to re-build the community, it is a small price to ask.
"This wasn't just a housing regeneration. It was a social regeneration too. Residents waited and stuck with it. And so it is the people who bought into this model that are the ones who suffer the worst. Without a doubt, they are betrayed and they cannot be left high and dry while those who caused this mess walk away without consequence."
When Costello speaks of those who have scarpered, she refers to both councilors and developers. The empty flats in Croke Villas combined with a newly settled sense of despair have led to an increase in anti-social behaviour – something various different lobby groups maintain they had been brought to an all-time low by promises of change and better living conditions.
Pest infestations have become a common feature for the miniscule flats as the unoccupied units are left to fester and decay. One of the residents recently approached Dublin Inner City Partnership boss Patrick Gates to tell him she feared leaving her flat after coming out to find an addict snorting cocaine on her balcony. This is a practice the residents say was dying out when all involved looked towards a future of new homes.
A short while away in St Teresa's Gardens the situation is strikingly similar...
St Teresa's Gardens
When Dublin City Council established its regeneration task force for these predominantly inner city areas, three developments were categorised as priority and given the green light. These were O'Devaney Gardens, St Michael's Estate and Dominick Street. What has come to light, however, is that St Teresa's Gardens was fourth on that list – not quite important enough to get the coveted council consent.
Just last week, the news that residents dreaded arrived yet again in the form of a council committee meeting document outlining the task review results. "St Teresa's Gardens, review completed. Project board has decided to abandon the competition for this project." Seventy flats lie empty and the rest are occupied by those who opted into the plans.
"Of all the regeneration projects that we thought would be put on the back burner, we really thought that this would not be one of them. We are shocked, saddened and a certain sense of apathy, which is dangerous in itself, is starting to show here," says resident Kris Taylor. She has taken the same tack as those in Croke Villas and has started to look towards ways in which the community as a whole can renew the area. Ten years ago St Teresa's, in the midst of drug pushers, criminal activity and violence, began a project of renewal. Now a decade and a dozen promises later, Taylor is not hopeful for a future funded by developers or council bodies.
Worryingly, a growing number of suicides in the estate have added to the morale of devastation shrouding this area. "We are going to set up some kind of counselling board of our own. It looks like we will need to take matters into our own hands now from the full-scale regeneration right down to the recycling." There are some matters, however, that neither Taylor nor her neighbours can deal with themselves. "The estate is overflowing with rubbish, families are overcrowded in their small flats. Moreover, strangers are coming in among the area our children play in to buy their drugs off pushers. We are truly devastated."
Taylor believes this potent sense of disappointment is not relieved by the fact that the development came in at only fourth on the council's list and affirms that there is a palpable feeling that areas like O'Devaney Gardens and the attention given to their situation overshadowed the plight of St Teresa's Gardens.
Councillor Críona Ní Dhálaigh has been a constant campaigner within Dublin City Council to push this particular project back onto the agenda. Her brief of the area tallies with Taylor's. "Families of five and six are cramping into two bedroom flats. Teenagers are in bedrooms with younger siblings and some even with their parents.
"We owe the residents certain things from promising to push this matter further and seek funding for regeneration. But we are obliged to deliver them other things that have also been promised and not delivered. The residents were given a guarantee that maintenance would always be a top priority, but already, due to cutbacks, some of the caretaking services have been withdrawn, which is not acceptable." Ní Dhálaigh believes that St Teresa's Gardens and those living within cannot afford to be put on indefinite hold, and that the situation in areas like these may soon to turn sour should the waiting list grow any longer.
Mountainview Court
From the vantage point of an unacquainted passerby, Mountainview Court in Dublin 1 is nothing but a demolition site where run-down flat complexes once stood. To the informed observer, this site was to hold facilities necessary for the successful social regeneration of inner-city communities in Dublin. What was to be the site for a new senior citizen's home, the new location for the Lourdes Health Centre, a crèche and various other facilities is now nothing more than the rubble and remains left by the previous residents, who have now been moved on. According to the council documents: "This project has been terminated as the only remaining bidder could not secure funding. Alternative options for the re-development of this site are being examined."
Lord mayor Costello expresses particular rage over the shelving of this project, especially in relation to the Lourdes Health Centre, which was due to be relocated from its current – and insufficient – base on Sean MacDermott Street. This year, the centre celebrated 30 years of caring for the needs of the elderly in inner-city Dublin. With only three members of full-time staff caring for approximately 178 people a month, the relocation was set to give a major boost to the quality of service received by those attending. "It is a major let-down once again," says Costello. "They are now back to the drawing board on a possible, more suitable location. The work they do is of vital importance."
Countless other schemes like these have been put on "indefinite hold", and residents trapped in the nightmare that is regeneration continue tirelessly to campaign for a better quality of life and the enactment of promises made long ago. The message is clear in the eyes of Patrick Gates of the Inner City Partnership : "There must never again be a reliance on developers driven toward financial gain and not community benefit. There needs to be a complete re-look, and in a holistic way, or else the consequences will be fierce. Bricks and mortar alone will not solve this."
Sunday Tribune
www.buckplanning.ie
Saturday, 8 August 2009
Higher levels of CO2 blamed on Celtic Tiger era car growth
The increase in cars during the boom years contributed to Ireland’s high carbon dioxide levels, according to new figures.
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures also indicate that Ireland will struggle to achieve its target reduction in greenhouse gases under the Kyoto Agreement.
Between 1998 and 2007, greenhouse gas emissions here increased by almost 5%, although acid rain precursors - such as sulphur dioxide - fell by 33%.
The CSO figures measure sectors of industry in terms of how much pollution is put out into the air versus the economic impact of the sector on the nation’s finances. While some sectors - such as industry and agriculture, forestry and fishing - showed a fall in greenhouse gas emissions, emissions in the transport sector rose almost every year up to 2007.
It is believed that the growth in the number of newer, more powerful cars during the Celtic Tiger years contributed to the growth in greenhouse gas emissions in that sector.
There have been improvements in other sectors, however, with the statistics showing that electricity production is now greener than ever before.
While electricity demand per household rose by 15% between 1998 and 2007, there was a decline of 20% in greenhouse gases per household and a big drop in acid rain per household. This is attributed to the increase in the use of greener energy supplies - such as wind power and natural gas - and because of the use of new scrubbers at the Moneypoint power station.
The agriculture, forestry and fishing sector still contributes the most pollutants, mostly in the form of methane from animals such as cows and pigs. However, the figures show that, for the first time, the amount of CO2 being emitted by the sector has been overtaken by carbon cooling in the form of oxygen emitted by forestry.
Ireland has a target of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 20% of its 2005 level by 2020.
www.buckplanning.ie
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures also indicate that Ireland will struggle to achieve its target reduction in greenhouse gases under the Kyoto Agreement.
Between 1998 and 2007, greenhouse gas emissions here increased by almost 5%, although acid rain precursors - such as sulphur dioxide - fell by 33%.
The CSO figures measure sectors of industry in terms of how much pollution is put out into the air versus the economic impact of the sector on the nation’s finances. While some sectors - such as industry and agriculture, forestry and fishing - showed a fall in greenhouse gas emissions, emissions in the transport sector rose almost every year up to 2007.
It is believed that the growth in the number of newer, more powerful cars during the Celtic Tiger years contributed to the growth in greenhouse gas emissions in that sector.
There have been improvements in other sectors, however, with the statistics showing that electricity production is now greener than ever before.
While electricity demand per household rose by 15% between 1998 and 2007, there was a decline of 20% in greenhouse gases per household and a big drop in acid rain per household. This is attributed to the increase in the use of greener energy supplies - such as wind power and natural gas - and because of the use of new scrubbers at the Moneypoint power station.
The agriculture, forestry and fishing sector still contributes the most pollutants, mostly in the form of methane from animals such as cows and pigs. However, the figures show that, for the first time, the amount of CO2 being emitted by the sector has been overtaken by carbon cooling in the form of oxygen emitted by forestry.
Ireland has a target of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 20% of its 2005 level by 2020.
www.buckplanning.ie
Irish grasslands may assist in addressing climate change
Irish grasslands are potentially an important sink for carbon dioxide, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) research report Celticflux.
Carbon dioxide is the most important greenhouse gas (GHG) considered to be causing climate change. Policy-makers worldwide are working to achieve an international agreement to reduce GHG emissions under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol.
The report results are based on analysis of intensive measurements, carried out by University College Cork and Teagasc over a five-year period, at sites in the south-east and south-west of the country. The report indicates that grasslands can take up between 11 tonnes and 18 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the air, per hectare per year.
The work was largely carried out at grassland sites in County Cork and County Wexford. The study also included a natural peatland site in Co Kerry, which was shown to be a small sink for carbon dioxide(CO2). The EPA has also funded studies on croplands, which will be published shortly.
Most of the carbon dioxide is recycled as animal feed, but it is estimated that 10 to 15 per cent of the carbon is sequestered into the soil, where it can reside for much longer time periods, with a positive environmental benefit.
Commenting on the report, EPA Director Laura Burke said - “These are important results from research which the EPA has funded. Grassland is the dominant land use in Ireland and these results show that management of Irish grassland can have an important role in addressing climate change”
She added - “The outcome of this research is an important step-up in our understanding. Ireland has more than three million hectares of managed grassland. If this result were replicated across this area, it would amount to a considerable sink. However, some other land uses are likely to be a source of carbon dioxide, so a simple scaling up of these data can be misleading.
"Overall, the main message is positive and we need to use these results to inform decisions on the future use of grassland and other land.”
The EPA is working with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and others on assessment of how best to account for these results in the context of future development of national actions on climate change.
Frank McGovern, Senior Scientific Officer, EPA said - “These are complex issues and we need to insure that their full scope is understood when decisions are being made on land use and management - and particularly in accounting for these under future actions on climate change. These issues are being considered at EU and UN levels.”
The results need to be cross-checked and other land and soil types explored, along with land management regimes. A better understanding of the dynamics of soil carbon - as well as future climate conditions that will impact on soil - is also a requirement. This work is a key part of the current EPA research programme.
Addressing climate change is the key challenge of this century. There is no one solution, but the EPA considers that land management is one of the tools that could be used. This work helps to inform our thinking in the context of the various - and sometimes competing - demands. A holistic assessment is required to identify the best pathway to achieve climate objectives as well as economic and sustainability goals.
Further information -
Niamh Leahy, EPA Media Relations Office, 053-9170770 (24 hours)
Professor Ger Kiely, Hydromet Group, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, University College Cork -
Tel: 021-4902965
Email: g.kiely@ucc.ie
Web: www.hydromet.org
Notes:
The next UNFCCC meeting in Copenhagen in December is expected to progress international actions to address climate change. This is likely to include commitments by developed countries to significantly reduce emissions of greenhouse gases - including carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.
The European Union (EU) considers that international actions to address climate change should aim to insure that the average global temperature increase is kept below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The non-EU members of the G8 - including the USA and Japan - have recently endorsed this position.
Analysis provided by the IPCC indicated that meeting the EU climate protection goal means that emissions of GHGs from developed countries must be reduced by 25 to 40 per cent by 2020 - with a 50 per cent global reduction by 2050.
The report presents its analysis in terms of carbon, rather than carbon-dioxide. The carbon to carbon-dioxide conversion is: 1 tonne Carbon = 3.6 tonne Carbon Dioxide.
www.buckplanning.ie
Carbon dioxide is the most important greenhouse gas (GHG) considered to be causing climate change. Policy-makers worldwide are working to achieve an international agreement to reduce GHG emissions under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol.
The report results are based on analysis of intensive measurements, carried out by University College Cork and Teagasc over a five-year period, at sites in the south-east and south-west of the country. The report indicates that grasslands can take up between 11 tonnes and 18 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the air, per hectare per year.
The work was largely carried out at grassland sites in County Cork and County Wexford. The study also included a natural peatland site in Co Kerry, which was shown to be a small sink for carbon dioxide(CO2). The EPA has also funded studies on croplands, which will be published shortly.
Most of the carbon dioxide is recycled as animal feed, but it is estimated that 10 to 15 per cent of the carbon is sequestered into the soil, where it can reside for much longer time periods, with a positive environmental benefit.
Commenting on the report, EPA Director Laura Burke said - “These are important results from research which the EPA has funded. Grassland is the dominant land use in Ireland and these results show that management of Irish grassland can have an important role in addressing climate change”
She added - “The outcome of this research is an important step-up in our understanding. Ireland has more than three million hectares of managed grassland. If this result were replicated across this area, it would amount to a considerable sink. However, some other land uses are likely to be a source of carbon dioxide, so a simple scaling up of these data can be misleading.
"Overall, the main message is positive and we need to use these results to inform decisions on the future use of grassland and other land.”
The EPA is working with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and others on assessment of how best to account for these results in the context of future development of national actions on climate change.
Frank McGovern, Senior Scientific Officer, EPA said - “These are complex issues and we need to insure that their full scope is understood when decisions are being made on land use and management - and particularly in accounting for these under future actions on climate change. These issues are being considered at EU and UN levels.”
The results need to be cross-checked and other land and soil types explored, along with land management regimes. A better understanding of the dynamics of soil carbon - as well as future climate conditions that will impact on soil - is also a requirement. This work is a key part of the current EPA research programme.
Addressing climate change is the key challenge of this century. There is no one solution, but the EPA considers that land management is one of the tools that could be used. This work helps to inform our thinking in the context of the various - and sometimes competing - demands. A holistic assessment is required to identify the best pathway to achieve climate objectives as well as economic and sustainability goals.
Further information -
Niamh Leahy, EPA Media Relations Office, 053-9170770 (24 hours)
Professor Ger Kiely, Hydromet Group, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, University College Cork -
Tel: 021-4902965
Email: g.kiely@ucc.ie
Web: www.hydromet.org
Notes:
The next UNFCCC meeting in Copenhagen in December is expected to progress international actions to address climate change. This is likely to include commitments by developed countries to significantly reduce emissions of greenhouse gases - including carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.
The European Union (EU) considers that international actions to address climate change should aim to insure that the average global temperature increase is kept below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The non-EU members of the G8 - including the USA and Japan - have recently endorsed this position.
Analysis provided by the IPCC indicated that meeting the EU climate protection goal means that emissions of GHGs from developed countries must be reduced by 25 to 40 per cent by 2020 - with a 50 per cent global reduction by 2050.
The report presents its analysis in terms of carbon, rather than carbon-dioxide. The carbon to carbon-dioxide conversion is: 1 tonne Carbon = 3.6 tonne Carbon Dioxide.
www.buckplanning.ie
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