Our urban lives are wrapped up in the swift’s fate. To survive, they need our helpElla McSweeney: Leaving these gaps isn’t always compatible with insulation projects, but there are alternatives that don’t cost a huge amountSat Jul 27 2024 - 06:00
Ireland’s mountains need urgent help to prevent further degradationElla McSweeney: Croagh Patrick has long suffered from being one of Mayo’s most valuable natural resourcesSat Jul 20 2024 - 05:20
Killing rhododendrons is not pretty work but is necessary to restore natureLeft alone, this invasive species will form dense dark thickets and outcompete native trees such as oak and hazelSat Jul 13 2024 - 06:00
The Dodder could become one of the finest city rivers in Europe, showing what’s possible when we clean up our actElla McSweeney: Thanks to the efforts of locals, nature is starting to flourish again in a river that has been blighted and abused for decadesSat Jul 06 2024 - 05:00
When it comes to nature restoration plans, EU states will look to the Burren Programme. We should do the sameElla McSweeney: We don’t have time to fail. The Government should use our money to fund what works, then step out of the waySat Jun 29 2024 - 05:00
The curlew’s call is giving way to silence but not everyone is giving upA €25 million project hopes to secure a better future for breeding waders, including the curlew, which desperately need helpSat Jun 22 2024 - 05:00
When the extreme heat hits Ireland, we’ll be grateful to the trees Ella McSweeney: Younger kids, older people, outdoor workers, the socio-economically disadvantaged, pregnant women and the chronically ill are all disproportionately vulnerable to heat stress and mortalitySat Jun 15 2024 - 06:00
Nature is never without drama and noticing it is an active choiceNoticing the richness of life around us is an active choiceSat Jun 08 2024 - 05:00
Ireland does not have to choose between food and natureElla McSweeney: Farmer Patrick McGurk has found a way forward with a system that produces bothSat Jun 01 2024 - 05:00
A new marine national park in Kerry? Nobody told the fishermenWithin a few years by working with fishers an actively-managed marine park in Co Kerry could become one of the world’s most spectacular sitesSat May 25 2024 - 05:00
Juvenile jackdaws have stunning Cillian Murphy-esque blue eyesThey can recognise human faces and respond to our expressions. Having a ‘bird brain’ is no bad thing after allSat May 18 2024 - 06:30
The plight of Irish hedgehogs is a cause for concern. It’s been years since I’ve seen oneElla McSweeney: Since they’re pretty adept at hiding away in prickly places – think mounds of nettles, brambles or hawthorn – I’m hopeful elusive hedgehogs are still around.Sat May 11 2024 - 03:00
The sheer diversity within Donegal’s native woods reminds us they exist as so much more than just treesA new book by Seán Ó Gaoithín tells the stories of 28 woods in Co Donegal that are deeply complex spaces full of lifeSat May 04 2024 - 05:00
We have a golden opportunity to help get our rivers back - we should take it A growing band of scientists and river advocates across Europe are removing barriers at a record rate, enabling fish to navigate waterways as beforeSat Apr 27 2024 - 05:00
Milder and shorter winters due to climate warming are forcing some bat species to change their waysAlthough bats will roost in all kinds of spaces – from rocks, scree slopes and exposed limestone to holes in old oaks – they tend to favour buildingsSat Apr 13 2024 - 05:00
Shining new light on sperm whales and the importance of Irish waters to themRecent contact in Donegal with the largest predator on Earth offers a rare opportunity to add to our understanding of these extraordinary creaturesSat Apr 06 2024 - 05:00
Restoring the Brosna could be one of Offaly and Westmeath’s most significant civic accomplishmentsThe Brosna rises in Bunbrosna in Co Westmeath and flows into the midland’s highest lake, Lough Owel, north of MullingarSat Mar 30 2024 - 05:00
Ecological tragedy in Clare heralds imminent water crisis in Ireland Ballymacraven river may never recover from pollution that killed thousands of fish, an incident that highlights an even wider problem as the State’s water treatment infrastructure creaks under growing pressureSat Mar 23 2024 - 05:00
Lichens should be better protected – they help us read our landscape and atmosphereOnly one lichen – the ‘scrambled egg lichen’ – is legally protected under the Flora Protection OrderSat Mar 16 2024 - 06:00
Ireland’s elusive grey partridge in fight against extinctionThe species was first surveyed in 1991, and wild populations were found in Wexford and Offaly. By 2006 there were just 20 pairs leftSat Mar 09 2024 - 05:00
Tracking the cuckoo’s arduous African journey, to the Congo and backNational Parks and Wildlife Service is jointly running project to find out why Ireland’s cuckoo population has decreased so much in past two decadesSat Mar 02 2024 - 05:00
Plight of hen harrier pits nature against climate policiesPossibility of extinction leaves message we cannot ignore: we have created an ecological messSat Feb 24 2024 - 05:00
The Irish bog is under attack from rule-flouting dairy farmingThe damage to Raheenmore in Co Offaly from ammonia pollution is a warning sign of what might be aheadSat Feb 17 2024 - 05:00
It’s unsettling to imagine that in the near future, young people will have a very different understanding of the seasonsFrom Antarctica to the east coast of Ireland, plants worldwide are blooming at unexpected timesSat Feb 03 2024 - 05:00
How to find a ladybird: Try out the art of ‘beating’There is a lack of historical data on ladybirds in Ireland, but enthusiasts are making up for lost timeSat Jan 27 2024 - 05:06
From the Sargasso Sea to Lough Furnace, our eels face an increasingly perilous pilgrimage Numbers of European eels returning across the Atlantic from the Sargasso have declined by 95 per cent in the past four decades - an astonishing collapseSat Jan 20 2024 - 05:00
Now we can listen deeply to nature: hear the one about the plant triggered by the sound of a caterpillar?A growing body of evidence shows that many species - not just humans - are vocally active and use sound to communicate. And new technology means we may soon be able to converse with other speciesFri Jan 19 2024 - 06:00
Endangered freshwater pearl mussels in Ireland have full EU protection, but it’s done them no goodLast June, Ireland lost a case at the EU over the State’s failure to implement environmental law on protected habitats. If the authorities don’t demonstrate plans to fix this soon, we face daily finesSat Dec 16 2023 - 05:00
Are there any circumstances in which the sight of a rat feels welcome? People may recoil from these clever creatures but rats have been extensively used in research laboratories to help reduce human suffering and increase people’s longevitySat Dec 09 2023 - 06:00
How energy-efficient LEDs are disrupting animal life and blinding us to the night skyThe problem of light pollution is growing by the year, upsetting our body clocks and possibly disturbing the roosting of starlingsSat Dec 02 2023 - 06:00
In a patch of long grass, I saw the red eyeshine of a woodcock, arrived from Scandinavia or beyondMigrating woodcock like Ireland's mild, wet winters and arrive from their boreal homes in Scandinavia, Siberia and as far away as ChinaSat Nov 25 2023 - 06:00
Irish waterways: the toll of years of draining, modification and engineeringWe must use nature-based solutions to solve our extensive drainage problemsSat Nov 18 2023 - 06:00
Moths: It’s my first time mothing, and within minutes, I realise it is a whole other worldPlaced against the mint lichen on an oak tree, this wondrous moth disappears as if it isn’t thereSat Nov 04 2023 - 06:00
For wintering waterbirds it’s ‘death by a thousand cuts’Birdwatch Ireland data shows in the 1990s 1.5m migratory wintering waterbirds were observed; today it has slumped to just 750,000Sat Oct 28 2023 - 06:30
Our National Parks say something about how we view and value the natural worldAgriculture will be at the centre of Ireland’s newest National Park, Boyne Valley National Park, to be created from the 552-acre Dowth Hall estateSat Oct 21 2023 - 06:00
Flies converge over Lough Neagh to find a mate within a week before they dieIn future years the chironomids found in Lough Neagh will tell us whether or not the lake has been returned to its former glorySat Oct 14 2023 - 06:00
Lough Hyne in west Cork is in trouble and action is neededDeep sea-lake was a hotbed of biodiversity, designated Europe’s first marine nature reserve, but life is now draining away from itSun Oct 08 2023 - 06:00
The ‘Daddy Long-Legs’ may appear meek and mild, but it can devour larger spidersElla McSweeney: A new course from the National Biodiversity Data Centre is a calming antidote to exaggerated and inaccurate media reporting about spidersSun Oct 01 2023 - 06:00
Conkers in class won’t fix the climate, but pupils need antidote to a ‘frightening’ futureIs our education system burying its head in the sand, hoping someone else will educate young people on what they face and how to deal with it?Sat Sept 23 2023 - 06:00
Gender bias seems behind vulnerable Black Poplar’s imbalance - but at least there’s cloningThe sexually reproductive population of these trees to be found in the Lough Allen area is of international importance, especially given it is one of Europe’s most threatened tree speciesSat Sept 16 2023 - 06:00
The Maharees: how Kerry locals are working to secure a more nature-filled future The Maharees Conservation Association is working to secure a more hopeful, nature-filled and sustainable future for this beautiful pillow of sandSat Sept 09 2023 - 05:00
It may be time for Ireland to recognise some of our locally unique brown trout as separate speciesFor the trout and other native fish that live in Lough Corrib the news that carp have made their way into the lake is potentially calamitous because of our warming watersSat Sept 02 2023 - 06:00
