THE REVERSE SIDE OF THE MEDAL - About environment protection in Ireland

THE REVERSE SIDE OF THE MEDAL

About environment protection in Ireland

6,9 million hectares of clean water, colourful smell sweet meadows, the happy animals in the water and in the mountains. These are the facts you think of if you were asked about Irland and its environment. Is there really a untouched countryside? Do you know the reverse side of the medal?

25 Years ago, Ireland´s landscape were untouched and clean water was able to use. Then leading economic manager have got the idea to bring the big industry to Ireland and to make the citizens wealthier, but they didn´t think about the problems like water pollution and something like that. Nobody wanted to commit for pollution and waste. If politicians want to take measures to protect the environment they come across impediments: At once, the Irish constitutional guaranties every citizens their ownership-rights. Although another clause give the government the possibility to reduce the rights of the citizens, but the government didn´t do that yet. Privat owners are free to do for example chop down trees, to drain damp areas

87 authorities should care for the water polution. At this chaos, there´s no wonder, if that it doesn´t work.

The second impediment is that the people especially the employees have the opinion ' protection of the environment makes the employment rate higher and it is not good for the economic development. '

The farmers have got 5 million hectars. Not many years ago, they expand. The following example should show what the results are:

The sea ' Lough Sheelin ' which has got 1900 hectares was called ' the sea full of trouts '. In the 70´s many factories with their pigsties came to Lough Sheelin. They produced 1971 30 million litres of pic-waste and in the year 1979 130 Million litres of pic-waste, and all this flew in the sea, then the waste rained down the fields. The whole ecological system nearly died. Not many years ago, the gouvernment has seen the problem and supported the industry to put their waste in another areas.

Also the Irish people are harmful to the environment. The average person in Northern Ireland produces 1,400 kg of domestic waste per year. Over one third of the contents of the average dustbin is packaging waste. Approximately 95% of wastes go directly to landfill. They don´t thing about the results. Here are some informations about Irish people think about reycling:

In 1990 in Northern Ireland there were 202 public bottle banks. A total of 5,100 tonnes of scrap glass was collected, which is 3.2 kg of glass for each person in Northern Ireland. That´s to few. Only 21% of people in Northern Ireland regularly return waste for recycling compared to 35% of people in Great Britain.

17 % of the whole surface looks like the garden Eden, fresh-smelling flowers and grasses, untouched nature. The other 83 % are damaged by the industry and the citizens. If you make holiday there, you should make your journey´s on the 17 %

Here are the demands of organisations to protect the environment:

Integrated Pollution Control.

Effective pollution control should be part of an integrated system of environmental management. Coordination among Government Departments is required to give business the opportunity to control pollution while maintaining profitability. An integrated approach to the management of all inputs should be adopted at all levels, from Government to individual businesses.

Air and Water Pollution.

Northern Ireland generally has good air quality due to its favourable geographic location and the low level of heavy industry. There is, however, a serious air pollution problem in some urban areas (due primarily to coal fires and traffic) which must be addressed. Surface water quality in Northern Ireland is, generally, of a reasonable standard. The DoE's target of maintaining waterways at a 'fair or better level' is a modest one indeed and a universal standard of 'good' quality should be applied.

Industrial and Transport Pollution.

Globally industry is the largest source of pollutants. Although there is a relatively low level of industry in Northern Ireland, for its scale the pollution levels are high. Government policy is now for polluters to pay for the true costs of environmental damage they cause and this is likely to encourage more careful management of waste products. Emissions from vehicles are of serious concern, especially as a source of small airborne particles. Development of alternative modes of transport is required.

Integrated Waste Management.

The production of large amounts of waste materials not only causes problems in their disposal but also speeds up the rate at which people are using up natural resources. People and businesses should change their view of wastes and adopt the ideas of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Reclaim for all materials to minimise waste production. A comprehensive system of labelling of products, which takes into account the full environmental impacts from the beginning of their production through packaging, distribution and final disposal, should be implemented to help people make informed choices.

Waste Recycling.

Recycling should become economically and socially the obvious course. Recycling is one environmental issue which has captured the public's imagination and enthusiasm and has great potential for community involvement. We should all choose recycled materials whenever possible

and recycle our wastes. Government should encourage the development of the infrastructure necessary for reprocessing collected material.

Disposal of Waste.

Disposing of waste to landfill is the most common mechanism employed in Northern Ireland. It has been seen as 'simple', traditional and apparently cheap in comparison with the other options. The long term effects, including gas generation and pollution of water courses, are likely to lead to requirements for extremely expensive site remediation of older landfill facilities. Newer landfill sites have much greater safeguards against pollution and are correspondingly more expensive. In the long term much greater effort must be made to minimise the waste produced. Composting of organic refuse not only removes bulky and highly polluting materials but provides a valuable substitute for peat. Incineration with energy recovery is an apparently attractive option but can contribute to pollution if the process is not properly controlled and monitored.

Toxic Waste.

The amount of toxic materials produced should be decreased. Methods of disposal for toxic wastes must be found which do not lead to air, water or soil pollution. Much of Northern Ireland's toxic waste is shipped to GB or further afield for disposal, lengthening the journey and thereby increasing the risk of accidents. Toxic wastes should ideally be disposed of locally in safe facilities.

Sources: ' Geo - Spezial: Irland ', Internet    http://www.yahoo.uk with the keyword ' Ireland environment '. he environment: