Some mind-boggling stats: newly approved €1.6bn data centre in Ennis to occupy 1.3 MILLION sq foot site on 145 acres. Hilarious claim of “up to 1,000 permanent jobs” for this energy-guzzling AI ghost factory. Just what Ireland needs. 🤯

Had a chat with Aisling O’Rourke last evening on Midlands 103 on #Budget2027 and the government’s shameful abdication on #climate action. open.spotify.com/podcast-chap...

John Gibbons on Budget 2027's Climate Impact and Carbon Tax

Let's Go Green with Aisling O'Rourke · Chapter · 10m

open.spotify.com

Finished John Gibbons book ‘The lie of the land’ (@thinkorswim.bsky.social) last week. It’s hard to overstate how important a book this is for anyone that cares about this island 🇮🇪. John has truly done and continues to do this country a great service. A brilliant & important book.

Sparks flew on this week's Last Word on the Environment as I lambasted this govt's spineless u-turn on carbon taxes in #Budget2027 and its unforgivable backsliding on #climate, as the world literally burns. www.todayfm.com/podcasts/the...

Ireland & Council of the EU are pushing the 'Omnibus' proposal that will increase pesticide risks to the public and nature. Scientists have been ringing the alarm but the politicians pushing it —Fine Gael (EPP) and Fianna Fáil (Renew)—would rather listen to chemicals & agri-food industry lobbyists.

Paul Price@swimsure.bsky.social · 7d ago

Scientists: 'EU Omnibus proposal increases pesticide risks' –"implementing the Omnibus package would amplify rather than resolve shortcomings of current environmental risk assessment" ⬇️ Open access link to the scientists' June 2026 article in the journal Science. pollinera-horizon.eu/storage/app/...

This week's Last Word on the Environment with Matt Cooper coming up shortly on TodayFM. We'll be discussing #Budget2027, including scrapping of carbon taxes, plus 'forever chemicals' in our waterways – and more.

Thought for a moment that Simon Harris had completely forgotten #climate, but my mistake, he has also demolished the carbon tax, one of the most successful cross-party eco initiatives in recent years. #Budget2027

Enjoyed contributing to ‘How To Shop Well Now’ on RTE 1 TV tonight.

“They want to kill us all” say the people whose government is systematically levelling an entire nation & committing a genocidal war of extermination on a defenceless civilian population. The systematic whitewashing of this colonial terrorism knows no bounds. www.irishtimes.com/world/middle...

‘They want to kill all of us’: Life on Israel’s anxious frontier

Three years after the October 7th attacks, real security feels elusive in the Israeli community nearest the Gaza border fence

irishtimes.com

Another beautiful summer’s day here in Dublin. Balmy t-shirt weather. In Ireland. In October. At 53° North.

Ireland's chronic over-dependence on HGVs for freight leaves us at mercy of every fuel crisis & cutting diesel prices is only a short-term salve. We need to shift to rail freight & electrify our HGV fleet, as I explain in @irishexaminer.bsky.social today. www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...

Subsidies for diesel are lost money when electric trucks are the future

Pumping taxpayers' money into diesel-guzzling trucks is fair to nobody when we should be subsidising companies to transition to electric vehicles

irishexaminer.com

I visited Holland during the summer to report on their approach to food, energy & #climate, filling pieces for the Irish Times & Business Post. My latest report, for @thejournal.ie looks at a unique experiment combining urban living & sustainable food production. www.thejournal.ie/readme/john-...

What if city living also meant you could grow your own food? One Dutch community has it sussed

The Dutch experiment at Oosterwold offers a radically different model of urban living. John Gibbons visited the residents to see how it’s done.

thejournal.ie

Bang on the money from Diarmaid Ferriter today : Irish govt still mouthing platitudes about #climate while the world burns down around us. Hope it’s not true when they say we get the politicians we deserve. www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026...

Diarmaid Ferriter: Weather whiplash leaves us with no illusions about the reality of climate change

And yet the Government is still speaking out of both sides of its mouth

irishtimes.com

Pod of this week’s Last Word on the environment with Matt Cooper now available. We discussed UK tree planting proposals, accelerated glacier melting plus global oceans heating rapidly, and I pleaded with Irish Rail for proper illuminated signage at DART stations. www.todayfm.com/podcasts/the...

Chuffed to see the new paperback edition of THE LIE OF THE LAND in a central spot if the feint window of Hodges Figgis on Dawson St this evening. Still a few copies being shifted, it seems.

This week’s Last Word on environment with @mattcooperlastword.bsky.social coming up within the hour. We’ll be discussing UK plans to plant trees to abate extreme weather, plus #climate fuelled Swiss glacier meltdown as global ocean heating accelerates.

Updated Google Maps (2023, left & 2026, right) imagery from Gaza portray utter devastation wrought on a once-teeming society. With civilian death toll far beyond 100,000, Israeli genocide on Gaza is one of best-documented war crimes in history, yet Ireland is Israel's 2nd biggest trade partner.

This is a simply stunning parliamentary performance by NZ Green leader. Passionate, persuasive, thoroughly researched and delivered with real brio. If we had lots more Progressive voices speaking up like this, the world would be in a much better place today.

samuel mehr@mehr.nz · 2w ago

this video of Chlöe Swarbrick, who leads the Greens in New Zealand's parliament, is worth your five minutes' time

That’s how you spell ‘kakistocracy’.

“We’re not going to hit our 2030 target but that does not reduce our ambition in that regard". More Flann O'Brien-level sophistry from #climate minister Darragh O'Brien as Ireland slumps down EU table. Report by @codohertynews.bsky.social www.irishtimes.com/environment/...

European Commission to put Ireland’s poor climate action record under scrutiny

Climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra says emission reduction targets must be taken very seriously

irishtimes.com

Sure, AI companies steal ideas, creativity & expertise to monetise them on a colossal scale. And OK, they’re losing literally billions every week in this gigantic Ponzi scheme. But at least they’re also threatening to wipe out humanity as well, so let’s all try to keep some perspective here.

Turns out the dead-eyed tax dodging tech ghoul funding the destruction of democracies & global mass surveillance is actually a sound man who gave the local GAA a bit of a dig-out. Well this changes EVERYTHING. www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic...

Mark Zuckerberg donates €150,000 to Waterford GAA clubs after buying castle in the area

Meta founder and his wife Priscilla Chan bought Strancally Castle in August

irishtimes.com

Finished reading End Times Fascism by @naomiaklein.bsky.social & @astra.bsky.social last night: brilliant, urgent analysis of the dire situation we now confront, and how to beat the fascist thugs.

Naomi Klein@naomiaklein.bsky.social · 2w ago

End Times Fascism is now an *international* bestseller. Folks, you made this happen and we are so grateful. @astra.bsky.social

Why yes, of course you can build out your gigantic 72,500 m2 energy and resource-sucking data centre, but be sure to “encourage staff to use public transport, cycling & walking”. Beyond parody from the crack squad at An Coimisiún Pleanala. www.irishtimes.com/business/202...

Well done, Brazil. One less population for gambling companies to fleece. irishbusinessnews.ie/flutter-halt...

Flutter Suspends Brazil Operations After Online Gambling Ban

Flutter Entertainment halts Brazilian operations following presidential decree banning online gambling, warning of potential impacts on assets and profits.

irishbusinessnews.ie

“We have a country 10 times better than theirs, stronger, an amazing country with amazing people”, says deluded Israeli player after they get walloped 3-0 while their genocide-supporting fans chant “IDF, IDF, IDF” in stadium. www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer...

‘We have a country 10 times better than theirs’: Israel captain criticises Ireland after 3-0 defeat

Israel captain says Sunday’s return fixture in Serbia ‘will be a completely different game’

irishtimes.com

Long after the names of the cowards and quislings in the FAI are forgotten, the name Gavin Bazunu will be remembered as a byword for courage and integrity in standing up for justice in the teeth of a savage genocide. www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer...

Ireland v Israel: Day of infamy exposes serious lack of leadership in FAI

Gavin Bazunu has been left brutally isolated as any semblance of squad unity has been utterly sundered

irishtimes.com

A powerful El Niño is expected to kill around a million people worldwide over the next year or so, as I explained in this week’s Last Word on the environment with Matt Cooper. We also discussed Germany’s aim to eliminate fossil fuels - and more. www.todayfm.com/podcasts/the...

Timely release coinciding with the "Be Emergency Prepared" leaflets - which give little useful info and mention nothing on our food security, actually! Huge thanks to @thinkorswim.bsky.social for letting me run away with his brilliant vision of a Department of Food Security! 🌍🌽 Enjoy folks!!

Irish Doctors for the Environment@irishdocsenv.bsky.social · 3w ago

Another climate fiction short story on our blog, by @orlaghgaynor.bsky.social🌍 This installment envisions an alternative future of Ireland's food security, inspired by ideas from John Gibbons @thinkorswim.bsky.social 🌽 A better future is always possible - enjoy! medium.com/@irishdocsen...

Meanwhile, the Irish government is about to waste hundreds more millions of euros subsidising petrol, diesel instead of putting that same money into supporting people to buy EVs, save the #climate & a ton of money too. Far too sensible, clearly, for Micheál, Simon & Co.