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THE €144 MILLION cruise ferry, the WB Yeats, arrived in Dublin Port today from its construction site in Germany.
The latest edition to Irish Ferries, the new ship will see four sailings a week with trips made from Dublin to Holyhead during the winter months and Cherbourg in France from mid-March to the end of September.
The 51,388-tonne ship – measuring 195 metres in length – can hold 1,800 passengers, and has 400 cabins including luxury suites with private balcony views.
The ferry also has restaurants, cinemas, bars and shopping centres – and will start serving passengers from this week.
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A good & timely article. Unfortunately, we will never make progress as long as the deterrent, the sanction, is so miniscule as to be irrelevant. This is not even the fault of the judiciary as their hands are tied in that the maximum permitted ‘punishment’ for wildlife/ environmental crimes is so inconsequential. The stautes/legislation needs to be amended & updated as a matter of urgency
I agree we need enforcement of laws and bigger penalties but a greater emphasis needs to be on incentives for Farmers and landowners to steward the land in an environmentally sensitive way. It will also take some reeducation after decades of encouraging farmers to do exactly the opposite!
@Emma Smith: Morning Emma, ‘cart before the horse’ though isn’t it? Proper enforcement AND serious sanctions need to be front& centre
So it’s the farmers’ fault – and it often is.
But no mention of the Mourne mountain fire, started by an arsonist. Or the Killarney fire, started by a portable barbacue – not a typical farmers item.
Ireland has less than 2% native forests. The rest are non native evergreens. It would be nice to replace them with native trees.
@Shane Gallagher: Why? They won’t produce lumber to build your home or make paper.
@Hunt Ley: Evergreen forests in Ireland are not grown to be used for construction or producing paper. We import those products. The main intended purpose for evergreen forests was to offset carbon dioxide emissions. The government provides grants to landowners willing to use their land for forestry.
OK. If a fire begins naturally, say from lightening, should we as humans, interfere and put that fire out or allow it to burn uncontrollably?
@AnthonyK: Humans planted forests and built houses and would naturally protect them.
@AnthonyK: Before we were brainwashed into thinking that paradise is somewhere else we used to worship nature and the natural world. Real shame those belief systems were not allowed to evolve really, we would certainly be more involved with maintaining and utilising the planet, we’re so far from anything like that tho, addicted to the effects of another human construct, that of wealth.
Pádraic, do us one on why we should be re introducting the Beaver, a move that would do more for the restoration of our natural state than any other. “Oh but they were never here” – bollocks.!
@Nicholas Grubb: But sure they weren’t.
What a load of absolute nonsense article
Where is my comment that was posted hours ago? Just because it disagrees with Fogarty’s anti forestry distribution is no reason to remove it.
Fogarty is neither a forester nor a silviculutist. Just because he limes trees foes not make him an authority.
Shame on the Journal for partisan censorship.
@Hunt Ley: What do you expect its like China for the propaganda on the journal.
Maybe an approach of eco tourism in areas the farmers get tax free earnings from cycling, walking, wildlife photography individuals or groups bed and breakfast for the particular months mentioned not to cut or till the land would maybe help nature. Any damage to the local area by farmers or county council will result in fines or cut back in county council amount of money given by central government. Farmers any EU funding also cut as a deterrent.
have your say