Shocking to discover designating AI data centres as “National Critical Infrastructure” means water companies are prohibited from restricting water to them even in times of drought. Households will lose water first. Thanks to @olliehayes.bsky.social at @globalactionplan.bsky.social for joining me
Data Centres vs. Drinking Water: What Matters To Us Most?
Podcast Episode · The Rest Is Politics · 30 July · 16min
podcasts.apple.com
Emergency infrastructure laws ‘may be at extremity’ of what is constitutionally permitted www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...
Emergency infrastructure laws ‘may be at extremity’ of what is constitutionally permitted
Minister for Public Expenditure says aspects of Climate Act weaponised by those who want to stop projects
irishtimes.com
Delighted to see this published in the Journal of Human Rights and the Environment! Reflections on Climate Case Ireland, and on the legacy of the first wave of framework climate cases in Europe. www.elgaronline.com/view/journal...
In 2021, Meta’s data centre complex in Clonee, Co. Meath, used more water from the mains than Irish Water said was being used by all Irish data centres combined. “Does Irish Water even know how much water data centres are using?”, by @lokapila.bsky.social www.dublininquirer.com/does-irish-w...
![According to Irish Water, as of 2021, data centres across Ireland drank about 810 megalitres of water from the public mains a year – which is about 0.13 percent of overall national supply.
But that same year, Meta reported that it withdrew 928 megalitres of water for its data centres in Clonee in Meath. Planning documents say that it was to rely on water from the mains.
That’s more than Irish Water said was consumed overall in the country that year.
A spokesperson for Irish Water said on 19 June [2026] that it couldn’t lay out its methodology behind the 810 megalitres figure – or give more up-to-date figures on water use by data centres, since the AI boom.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:sjznb6msdsbogkbwdorupxz3/bafkreia6pcrfbgpds4s7waaniamogy73earjmu3xzts4mlbj6cet57i4pa)
“The disapplication of section 15 [of Ireland’s Climate Act] means much more than ignoring an “inconvenient” rule – it means setting aside our commitment to a liveable future for our children and those already suffering the worst effects of climate change.” www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026...
Opinion: The Government is trying to undermine climate laws. President Connolly could stop it
The potentially irreversible impacts of climate change will be experienced by our children and grandchildren
irishtimes.com
Excellent free event on 11th June at the King’s Inns - Environmental Law Ireland's 2026 Annual Conference. Registration now open: www.eventbrite.ie/e/environmen... Hope to see you there!
The #HandsOffNature campaign has half a million signatures! ⚠️ Nevertheless, the pressure against these laws is intensifying. Use your voice: iwt.ie/what-we-do/h... 📸Northern Gannets, Brian Enright @clientearthde.bsky.social @wwf.eu @birdlifeeurope.bsky.social @irishenvnet.bsky.social
Looking forward to this event on 11th June - hope to see some of you there! Registration link to follow soon, I understand.
If you’re working on an article or case note in the broad field of European law, please considering submitting to the Irish Journal of European Law! Latest Call for Papers below - deadline this Friday (15th May).
If there was really appetite to regulate nevermind bring peat extraction to an end, surely an export ban on unlawfully extracted peat (all Irish peat) would be starting point? Require proof: source, permission, EIA, EPA licence. Kudos @codohertynews.bsky.social www.irishtimes.com/environment/...
Ireland has no known legal commercial peat extraction. Yet it exported €40m worth last year
More than 370,000 tonnes of material sold to 21 different countries in 2025, including Israel
irishtimes.com
Open letter to IE govt: protesting the continuing delays in issuing the 2026 update to the Climate Action Plan (CAP26), and the spurious grounds being offered for that. www.postcarbonireland.org/etc/2026/Let...
postcarbonireland.org
Courts worldwide are increasingly being asked to set limits on government support for fossil fuels to keep the public safe. In this blog I argue that State approval of new fossil fuel projects is incompatible with international law, and I examine what this means for upcoming cases. 1/3
The State Duty Not to Approve New Fossil Fuels
verfassungsblog.de
Wow! Even under "low" emissions scenario AMOC shutdown probability now assessed at 25%! I mean... TWENTY FIVE PER CENT🤯😱 People: time to pay attention!
Prof. Stefan Rahmstorf@rahmstorf.bsky.social · 8mo agoHow likely is an #AMOC shutdown? Here's our latest study based on 768 runs with 38 standard climate models (the CMIP6 models). Note these do not include any meltwater from Greenland mass loss, so might underestimate the risk a bit. 2/2 iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
A new report by the Climate Litigation Network charts the global impact of a decade of climate cases: climatelitigationnetwork.org/TenYearsClim... #climatelitigation
Ten years of climate litigation - Climate Litigation Network
report: laying the foundations for our shared future How ten years of climate cases built a legal architecture for climate protection President of PISFCC, Cynthia Houniuhi, speaks at the Peace Palace,...
climatelitigationnetwork.org
Plan to raise cost of judicial reviews could lead to people representing themselves in court www.irishtimes.com/environment/...
Plan to raise cost of judicial reviews could lead to people representing themselves in court
Law professor warns move could leave courts even more congested
irishtimes.com
“I do fear that if attempts are made to cut back on rights of participation and to cut back on the right of access to the courts, people will still find a way and it might well be a way that’s going to be a lot more difficult to control.” - Prof Áine Ryall #Law www.irishtimes.com/environment/...
Plan to raise cost of judicial reviews could lead to people representing themselves in court
Law professor warns move could leave courts even more congested
irishtimes.com
BREAKING: The EU watchdog just replied to our complaints. And she stands with us. She has found that the @ec.europa.eu committed maladministration when it prepared its Omnibus I and 2024 CAP proposals to roll back key environmental protections. Here are the findings:⬇️
Huge news from the UK today: after UN climate talks in which there was a massive fight over language on fossil fuels, the UK government today announced that it will in fact be keeping many millions of barrels of oil & gas in the ground. Deeds rather than just words for a change! 🧵
Must-read: "Politicians should be careful about what the lobbyists wish for – the latter’s cures often make things worse. The planning system is a key part of democracy and the legal system is how citizens hold power to account. Tinker with them at your peril" www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...
Lorcan Sirr: Judicial reviews are not the problem – and deregulation is no answer
We have seen before how cutting ‘red tape’ leads to disaster, especially in planning and housing
irishtimes.com
I’ve written something on John Collison’s Op-Ed and environmental democracy Next time you’re out in Dublin, check if you’re being “socially de-risked” by a friendly face from his think-tank elajucd.com/2025/11/21/o...
On Environmental Democracy and the Collisons’ “Abundance-Verse”
Andrew Jackson 21 November 2025 I. Introduction A clamour of praise greeted John Collison’s “how to get Ireland moving” Op-Ed following its publication in the Irish Times on 25th October: the Irish…
elajucd.com
Dr Orla Kelleher pushes back against the narrative that judicial reviews are to blame for the housing crisis.
Opinion: Beware of the judicial review red herring
Dr Orla Kelleher pushes back against the narrative that judicial reviews are to blame for the housing crisis.
irishlegal.com
Looking forward to speaking about climate law & KlimaSeniorinnen alongside @orlakelleher.bsky.social on 13th November at the Law Soc’s annual Environmental and Planning Law conference. Registration details here www.lawsociety.ie/productdetai...
Happy to see this new article published yesterday - co-authored with @orlakelleher.bsky.social “The implications of the European Court of Human Rights' climate rulings for climate litigation in Ireland: a new legal reality”, in the Irish Planning and Environmental Law Journal
Been working on an article over the summer? Please consider submitting to the Irish Journal of European Law! Call for papers below - please circulate! Deadline for submissions 31 October 2025. Previous volume: isel.ie/ijel/volume-...
How wide is the margin of appreciation that states have when setting national carbon budgets under the ECtHR’s KlimaSeniorinnen judgment? 🌍📉 @andrewlrjackson.bsky.social and @orlakelleher.bsky.social explain why the margin is narrower than argued on this blog. verfassungsblog.de/quantifying-...
Regarding the claim here that “Bord na Móna was an excellent example of appropriate engagement with environmental regulations working” Bord na Móna had EPA licences but did not have planning permission for any of its peat extraction. Other companies have neither. www.irishtimes.com/environment/...
Illegal peat harvesting is still taking place on a large scale, EPA report finds
Local authority enforcement is ‘patently inadequate’, with equipment and warehouses on some sites
irishtimes.com
Write up of UCD’s MSc in Env and Climate Law trip to Brussels this week, part of my comparative ‘Environmental Moot Court’ module, run in partnership with universities in France, Germany & NL: www.ucd.ie/law/news/ucd... @ucdschooloflaw.bsky.social
Call for papers for the next volume of the Irish Journal of European Law. Please circulate & consider submitting something yourself! Deadline for submissions: 23rd May 2025. Previous volume: isel.ie/ijel/volume-...
Call for papers for the next volume of the Irish Journal of European Law. Please circulate widely and consider submitting something yourself! Deadline for submissions: 23rd May 2025. Previous volume: isel.ie/ijel/volume-...
Very happy to report that the latest volume of the Irish Journal of European Law has just been published! isel.ie/ijel/volume-... Lots of interesting articles, as ever, and look out for the forthcoming call for papers for the next volume. Vol 26 on Westlaw soon and on HeinOnline later.
