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This paper offers a detailed empirical account of how human–environment relations were reconfigured in the UK and Ireland during the 2020–2021 COVID‐19 lockdowns, a period which natural scientists defined as the COVID‐19 Anthropause. Bringing this scientific concept into conversation with geographical work, we consider anthropause as both a lived condition and an historical moment of space–time decompression. Our expanded conceptualisation of anthropause, centred on lived experience and everyday life, develops a more hopeful politics than those offered by the 'Great Acceleration' narrative, which suggests digital media and urbanisation separate humans from nature. In contrast, we identify affirmative and inclusive modes of 'anthropause environmentalism' and explore their potential for fostering convivial human–nature relations in a world that is increasingly urban, digital, and powered by vernacular expertise. To make this argument, we turn to the Self‐Isolating Bird Club, an online birdwatching community operating across several social media platforms which, at the pandemic's height, reached over 50,000 members. We trace three key changes to human–nature relations illustrated by this group which we use to structure our paper: connection, community and cultivation. The COVID‐19 Anthropause recalibrated the fabric and rhythms of everyday life, changing what counts as a meaningful human–nature relationship. This paper will be of interest to geographers exploring environmental change at the interface of more‐than‐human and digital geographies, as well as environmentalists and conservationists. To conclude, we offer suggestions as to how scholars and practitioners might harness the lessons of anthropause to respond to the 'anthropulse'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent scholarly work on sustainability transitions has highlighted the importance of the development of norms against fossil fuels, or Anti-Fossil Fuel Norms (AFFNs), for climate mitigation. However, further research is needed to understand the mechanisms and conditions by which such norms are developed and secured for successful sustainability transitions. This paper contributes to addressing this, through analysing the case of the Republic of Ireland, probing the emergence of norms against fossil fuels and notably against natural gas (also referred to here as 'fossil gas'). Whilst Ireland is considered an overall laggard on climate action, in recent years the country has witnessed several ground-breaking supply-side moves against fossil fuels. Drawing on in-depth original research interviews and analysis of key political sources, including parliamentary debates and policy documents, the paper finds evidence of norms against fossil gas emerging in the Irish case. The analysis contributes insights into the iterative development of AFFNs at the domestic level, the role of environmental movements, and broader lessons for the development of a just transition away from fossil gas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article will examine a significant area of interest in Irish political sociology: the emergence of a social movement into politics and eventually government. The focus of the article will be on the transitions of the Irish environmental movement and Green Party. It will examine the background to this transformative process from the establishment of Comhaontas Glas from the Ecology Party in 1986 through to the moment when this process culminated in the Green Party taking its place as a junior partner in the Coalition Government in 2007. This process will be shown to represent a success for the politically pragmatic `relos' over the socially emotive 'fundis' of the Greens at a time when the wider environmental movement has moved in the opposite direction. One of the key areas of analysis for the paper will be an application of Foucault's concept of political power to the processes which transformed the activist-based green movement into a viable coalition partner within a neoliberal government. The paper will also examine the consequences of this transition in the context of Foucault's understanding of power as something fluid which emerges from the identity framing of 'discursive formations', rather than emanating out of the imposition of institutional hegemony. The paper concludes with an assessment of the impact of the Green Party's participation in government for its leadership and members, in the wake of contentious issues such as the two Lisbon Treaty referendums, and the coalition's bailout of the neo-liberal banking system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper documents the results of an analysis of Visual Impact Assessments (VIA) within a sample of Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) in Ireland. The standard of VIA conducted within the environmental impact assessment (ElA) process for three categories of development; piggeries, quarries and urban developments between 1997 and 1999 are evaluated. The extent to which VIA have complied with the Irish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines and disparities between the results for each development category are examined. The survey concluded that (i) the standard of VIA is less comprehensive than might be expected, and (H) the use of visualization techniques for VIA could be substantially improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This note documents changes in the Irish environmental movement during the 1990s. It provides basic data confirming the continued existence of an environmental movement in rural Ireland and illustrating how this movement has widened and deepened during the 1990s. with opposition spreading from what had been a narrow niche of activities during the 1980s -- chemical factories, mines and toxic dumping -- to a much wider range of activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper asks what happens to 'alternative' social movements like the Irish organic farming movement, which try to promote sustainable forms of rural development, when they begin to be incorporated into state policy for farming and the countryside. Does this provide a context in which farming and the food industry can begin to be 'restructured from below', or does it lead instead to 'deradicalisation' of the movement and its ideas ? The European literature on 'new' or alternative social movements has focused more on mobilisation of such movements than on processes of institutionalisation and their effects. Yet institutionalisation is often experienced by movement members themselves as a critical even highly divisive development, which can result in severe damage to the movement's core ideology and values. The Irish case discussed here is a starting point from which we may develop a more general understanding of the increasing institutionalisation of environmentalism in the contemporary developed world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper proposes a conflict interpretation of environmentalism, seeing it as a vehicle through which the cultural politics of Irish development are reproduced and enacted. Contrasting two environmental movements in Ireland, one based around established conservation organisations and a developing environmental 'knowledge elite', the other located within populist movements for rural community development, the author argues that these articulate opposed understandings of recent Irish history: as a process of cultural modernisation or as one of peripheral (under)development. The two movements are also characterised by very different attitudes to the part played in environmental matters by the Irish state. The paper ends by discussing how recent intervention into environmental management by the state itself may ironically be providing the ground on which some dialogue between the two movements is becoming possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Despite a number of campaigns conducted in Ireland to increase awareness about appropriate waste management, waste enforcement is still a significant issue. Decisions such as the privatisation of waste collection services and the introduction of new waste charges have contributed to some of the classic waste enforcement issues, like illegal dumping. In addition, the current economic recession affects the resources that local authorities have available to implement enforcement actions. In order to analyse the current situation of waste enforcement in Ireland, a survey was carried out amongst the 34 environmental departments within the Irish local authorities. This paper presents the survey findings. From the results, the principal current waste enforcement issues are extracted and compared with previous studies in the field. In addition, an analysis of the resources employed with regard to technology, personnel, legal prosecutions and best practices is also performed. The technologies and practices used are evaluated for efficiency at reducing the main illegal actions, such as illegal dumping, and compared to international best practices. Finally, the actions carried out by the local authorities in terms of public awareness and environmental education are reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The recent phase of economic growth in the Republic of Ireland has led to an increase in industrial and infrastructural development across the island. One offshoot of this accelerated growth has been a rise in community based environmental movements, as environmentalists and concerned communities have come to mobilise campaigns to protect local communities and hinterlands. This paper examines the contestation of two forms of environmentalism, institutional ecomodernism versus a grassroots ecopopulism within the context of the ongoing dispute between a local community in the west of Ireland and both multinationals and the state, who are attempting to run gas pipelines from the Atlantic Corrib Field through the rural community's lands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research shows that environmental attitudes can affect support for environmentally-beneficial policies. However, it is unclear whether environmental attitudes can influence support for such policies when they are not being primarily framed through an environmental lens. Using data from the 2011 Irish National Election Study, this paper examines the issue using the case of support for the reintroduction of water charges. This was a contentious issue with debate largely focusing on the proposal as an austerity measure, but the proposal also had environmental implications. The results find that while individuals' willingness to prioritise environmental protection over economic growth did not affect their support for water charges, their willingness to make individual sacrifices for the environment did. Moreover, voters' position on this policy impacted their vote choice. The findings are particularly important given the struggles that governments are facing in implementing environmental taxes and charges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent times, much has been written about consumers' co-responsibility for addressing environmental problems, with consumers expected to steer or regulate their consumption in an instrumental way. By drawing on data from in-depth interviews with green consumers in urban Ireland, this article examines how green consumers engage with environmental issues at an everyday level. The article considers green consumption through the theoretical lens of reflexive modernization, particularly its relevance to self-identity. We argue that although green consumption is important to the maintenance and constitution of a green subjectivity, it must be understood within the context of a process of increasing individualization, where individuals feel both responsible and empowered in dealing with environmental risks to both the wider global planet and themselves. However, such feelings are accompanied by doubts and insecurities about the choices to be made, crating a rather dichotomous situation. This challenges the idea that green consumption as some form of politics of choice can unambiguously form part of a strategy for environmental reform as it does not adequately address the fundamental dilemmas that people face. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Irish environmentalism has frequently been described as characterised by 'localism' and compared with similar patterns in Southern Europe. Used thus, localism carries a negative connotation, suggesting that such activism does not reflect pure or genuine environmental commitment. Irish environmental activism is indeed predominantly local but these 'defences of place' may be far more socially and politically significant than is generally recognised. The concept of place constructed and advanced by local activists combines concerns about perceived threats and risks arising from specific projects with claims, both implicit and sometimes explicit, regarding human well-being and the quality of the natural environment. Thus, 'place' can act as a holistic concept encompassing notions of the good life. In this way, local-level activism can be linked to emerging political conflicts over the direction and character of modern society and gobalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wind energy debate represents a new kind of environmental controversy which divides environmentalists of different persuasions who attach contrasting priority to global and local concerns. Case studies of public attitudes towards existing and proposed windfarm developments in Scotland and Ireland are used to test three counter-intuitive hypotheses derived from previous attitudinal research. These are: (a) that local people become more favourable towards windfarms after construction; (b) that the degree of acceptance increases with proximity to them; and (c) that the NIMBY syndrome(not-in-my-back-yard) does not adequately explain variations in public attitudes. All three hypotheses are supported by this study. Large majorities favour wind power development in principle and in (local) practice. Although some aspects of NIMBY attitudes exist, the surveys reveal an ‘inverse NIMBY’ syndrome, whereby those with windfarms in their ‘backyard’ strongly support the technology. The research endorses the view that aesthetic perceptions, both positive and negative, are the strongest single influence on individuals' attitudes towards wind power projects. Comparison of the current institutional factors driving wind energy development with those during earlier eras of hydro-power development and large-scale afforestation emphasizes the need for strategic planning guidance. The potential for using a planning-led approach to windfarm developments by adopting ‘Indicative Windfarm Strategies’ is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the emergence of green politics in Ireland with the election of Patricia McKenna and Nuala Ahern of Comhaontas Glas to the European Parliament. Politics in Ireland is characterized by the unique nature of its political system, the conservatism and continuity of political loyalties, the lack of fragmented voting cleavages and the absence of the severe environmental problems. Comhaontas Glas was the major beneficiary of the single transferrable voting system and was determined to present a broad agenda beyond environmental issues.