Tag Archives: democracy

Public Consultation – fruitful or farcical?

Posted on September 13, 2020 by

What makes a good public consultation? I often write about a flawed or absent public consultation process. People keep saying to me: “We know how you are not supposed to do it, but can you not be constructive and suggest … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy; Ireland; Fine Gael; Labour; Sinn Fein; Workers; Constitution, lobbying; democracy; political process; general election, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters; Aarhus Convention; Aarhus Treaty | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Seeing the Wood and the trees.

Posted on August 19, 2020 by

 My most favourite place is in a forest. They are full of energy, they smell lovely, they shield you from outside noise, there is birdsong and the occasional chatter of squirrels, you might see deer or other forest creatures, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy; Ireland; Fine Gael; Labour; Sinn Fein; Workers; Constitution, EIA Directive 2014/52/EU, Legal Costs; Access to Justice; Courts, lobbying; democracy; political process; general election, Planning and Development Act 2000; guidelines; directives; Sections 28 & 29, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters; Aarhus Convention; Aarhus Treaty | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

“obscurum per obscurius”

Posted on August 5, 2020 by

(“the obscure by the more obscure”)   If “bullshit” was a proper legal concept, it would have been used liberally in the latest Supreme Court judgment, and one can only imagine that the actual word was used in discussions between … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy; Ireland; Fine Gael; Labour; Sinn Fein; Workers; Constitution, EIA Directive 2014/52/EU, EU Renewable Energy 2020 Target, Green Party; Ireland; Eamonn Ryan; Cormac Manning, lobbying; democracy; political process; general election, NREAP; National Renewable Energy Action Plan; EU Commission; Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee; ACCC, Planning and Development Act 2000; guidelines; directives; Sections 28 & 29, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters; Aarhus Convention; Aarhus Treaty | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Forcing the ‘Custodians of the Planning Process’ to do their job.

Posted on July 31, 2020 by

Many readers will be surprised to know that Irish planning law does have enforcement procedures. They will be even more surprised to know that the bodies designated to perform this enforcement function are the Councils. This is due to the … Continue reading →

Posted in An Bord Pleanala; appeal; interested parties, lobbying; democracy; political process; general election, Planning and Development Act 2000; guidelines; directives; Sections 28 & 29, Planning Permission; Extension; Planning and Development Act | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Adios to Substituted Consent. At last.

Posted on July 2, 2020 by

Peter Sweetman What is substituted consent? Substituted consent is a form of retention permission, whereby a person can obtain planning permission for a building or development  after that building has already been erected. It has a long and colourful history … Continue reading →

Posted in An Bord Pleanala; appeal; interested parties, EIA Directive 2014/52/EU, Freedom of Information; Access to Environmental Information; AIE; Commissioner for Environmental Information, Green Party; Ireland; Eamonn Ryan; Cormac Manning, judicial review; Wednesbury Test; O'Keeffe; rationality; Separation of Powers, Kilvinane Wind Farm Ltd; substituted consent, NREAP; National Renewable Energy Action Plan; EU Commission; Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee; ACCC, Peremptory law; Directory Law; Planning and Devlopment Act of 2000, Planning and Development Act 2000; guidelines; directives; Sections 28 & 29, Planning Permission; Extension; Planning and Development Act, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters; Aarhus Convention; Aarhus Treaty, Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA); Grid 25; North-South Interconnector | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

What do we mean by “Conflict of Interest”?

Posted on February 16, 2020 by

EU commissioner lobbied by energy firm he owns shares in Johannes Hahn is the European Commissioner for budget and administration. He also owns 2,200 shares in Austria’s largest electricity-provider (Photo: europarl.europa.eu) By NIKOLAJ NIELSEN   BRUSSELS, 14. FEB, 07:04   … Continue reading →

Posted in EU Renewable Energy 2020 Target, lobbying; democracy; political process; general election | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Oh, what a lovely scam!

Posted on December 31, 2019 by

  This is a very interesting piece from National Wind Watch which in turn was gleaned from an article in the Sunday Times. Considering the number of new applications for wind farms happening all over the country, I wonder how … Continue reading →

Posted in EU Renewable Energy 2020 Target, Planning Permission; Extension; Planning and Development Act, Wind Farm Guidelines, turbines, flicker, noise, distance, Denis Naughten | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

A time for Family

Posted on December 8, 2019 by

As we enter this festive season of which the primary focus should be family, I paused to consider the destructive impact that renewable energy legislation has had on so many families in this country, particularly those families living in the … Continue reading →

Posted in EirGrid; Insurance; Law; Cancer; EMF, EU Renewable Energy 2020 Target, Peremptory law; Directory Law; Planning and Devlopment Act of 2000 | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

How Authorisation Procedures for Wind Farms are Illegally Discriminating Against Other Sources of Renewable Energy

Posted on December 7, 2019 by

An interesting article from Pat Swords:     1.1   Background There is now in 2019 approximately 3,700 MW of wind energy installed in the Republic of Ireland with an additional 1,300 MW installed in N. Ireland. As can be … Continue reading →

Posted in EU Renewable Energy 2020 Target, NREAP; National Renewable Energy Action Plan; EU Commission; Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee; ACCC, Pat Swords | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The attack on Human Rights in Turkey

Posted on November 24, 2019 by

Our friends in Turkey continue to try and protect their homes and heritage sites from a rampant wind industry supported by a ruthless government and some highly questionable court decisions. Despite these obstacles, the community continues to pursue what many … Continue reading →

Posted in Arsin Demir, Çalık Holding; Turkey; EU; renewables, EIA Directive 2014/52/EU, EU Renewable Energy 2020 Target, Legal Costs; Access to Justice; Courts, lobbying; democracy; political process; general election, Turkey; ABK Çeşme RES Enerji Elektrik Üretim A.Ş, Wind Turbines: Esen Fatma Kabadayi Whiting | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Ireland in trouble with Aarhus – again

Posted on September 1, 2019 by

Many thanks to Wind Aware Ireland for this very informative update: Updates. 30th August, 2019 A panel of legal experts has found that Irish planning law is non-compliant with requirements under an international convention to allow the public to participate … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy; Ireland; Fine Gael; Labour; Sinn Fein; Workers; Constitution, EU Renewable Energy 2020 Target, Freedom of Information; Access to Environmental Information; AIE; Commissioner for Environmental Information, judicial review; Wednesbury Test; O'Keeffe; rationality; Separation of Powers, NREAP; National Renewable Energy Action Plan; EU Commission; Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee; ACCC, Planning and Development Act 2000; guidelines; directives; Sections 28 & 29, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters; Aarhus Convention; Aarhus Treaty, The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s (UNECE) Convention on Access to Information | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

What! More wind turbines? Are you serious?

Posted on August 15, 2019 by

It is now widely recognised that wind turbines are inefficient, costly, environmentally unfriendly, and harmful to humans and other animals. For those who do not particularly care about these things, but are concerned about their personal finances, they are also … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic Research; Peer-Review Process; Medical Journals, Brexit, Democracy; Ireland; Fine Gael; Labour; Sinn Fein; Workers; Constitution, Dr Sarah Laurie; Steve Cooper; Bob McMurtry; Alun Evans, EIA Directive 2014/52/EU, EirGrid; Insurance; Law; Cancer; EMF, EU Renewable Energy 2020 Target, Green Party; Ireland; Eamonn Ryan; Cormac Manning, Irish Farmers Association; IFA; wind farm contracts, Justine McCarthy; The Sunday Times; EMF, lobbying; democracy; political process; general election, Ministerial Responsibility; Liability; Negligence; cardiovascular, NREAP; National Renewable Energy Action Plan; EU Commission; Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee; ACCC, Planning and Development Act 2000; guidelines; directives; Sections 28 & 29, The Spokes of the Wheel; wind farms; Ireland; Windfall, Wind Farm Contract, Wind Farm Guidelines, turbines, flicker, noise, distance, Denis Naughten, Wind Turbine Syndrome; Professor Alun Evans, Wind Turbines: Esen Fatma Kabadayi Whiting | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

The final stages of capitalism

Posted on April 15, 2019 by

In Das Kapital, (my translation) Marx describes the final stages of capitalism, literally along the lines of ‘capitalism will eat itself’:   “The final stages of capitalism will be marked by global capital being unable to expand and generate profits … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic Research; Peer-Review Process; Medical Journals, An Bord Pleanala; appeal; interested parties, Apple; Google; Data Centre, Brexit, Cloud; iCloud; Data Centre; Data Center, Democracy; Ireland; Fine Gael; Labour; Sinn Fein; Workers; Constitution, Easter Uprising, 1916 Revolution, Independence, IRA., lobbying; democracy; political process; general election, Ministerial Responsibility; Liability; Negligence; cardiovascular, NREAP; National Renewable Energy Action Plan; EU Commission; Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee; ACCC, Press Freedom, University Hospital Waterford | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment