The first was a warning from Simon Stiell, the most senior climate figures at the United Nations. His message was stark: Governments, business leaders and development banks have just two years to avert the most devastating consequences of climate change. He described the next two years as essential to save the planet. This is a significant acceleration in urgency from the UN, who have previously identified 2030 as the key date by which emissions must be slashed to keep the world on track to meet the objectives agreed in the Paris Agreement. Stiell warned that climate change was slipping down the political agenda, and that more ambitious national climate plans were required to effectively drive down emissions.

The second news shock was the leaking of the draft EU strategic agenda, currently being prepared for the next European Union mandate from 2024 to 2029. This document, being prepared behind the scenes in anticipation of the next European Commission’s political priorities, has completely dropped environmental protection and climate change from Europe’s plans for the next five years. The only mention of ‘environment’ in the document was the EU’s pledge to create a ‘business-friendly environment’. The European Green Deal, the flagship policy package of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, is gone – nowhere to be found.

Of course, we have seen the political system in Brussels, which has championed the EU as a climate leader since 2019, sliding back on the green agenda in real time. Ambitious legislation proposed by the European Commission in recent years is arriving for final endorsement by the European Parliament as a shadow of its former self – hollowed out and weakened beyond all recognition. And even legislation that makes it through the full legislative process – like the Nature Restoration Law, is being held captive by the European Council, who refuse to give it the approval required at this stage, despite having already been agreed by all stakeholders through the European Union’s trilogue negotiations. But to see the European Commission’s flagship legislative package in the Green Deal, and any substantive mention of climate and environment, gutted from Europe’s agenda was, until now, beyond imagination.

This is against the climate backdrop of temperature records being shattered month-on-month, Irish farmers suffering biblical bouts of rainfall, ocean temperatures at never-before-seen levels, and emerging threats to the stability of the Atlantic Ocean circulation system – a key climate tipping point that must be avoided if Ireland is to maintain its temperate climate.

Right at the moment when we need more ambition on climate action and environmental protection, we’re getting far less. At a time when the UN is calling for us to accelerate progress, the European Union wants to go backwards.

Significant progress was made in this term – The European Green Deal saw the adoption of the first ever European Climate Law, new laws to slash the mountain of packaging waste generated, a European ‘Right to Repair’ to tackle the planned breakdown of electronics and utilities, ambitious food waste targets to ban supermarkets from throwing away good food, the now-stalled Nature Restoration Law.

But now, this progress – and our chance at avoiding climate catastrophe, is under threat as the centre-right European People’s Party shed their green clothes and drop climate and environment from the agenda completely.

To turn away from climate action and environmental protection now would be a historic mistake, and undermine the future safety and security of every citizen in Ireland, Europe and around the world.

It is estimated that 230,000 tonnes of these plastic pellets, known as ‘nurdles’, are now washed into the sea every year, either from land-based sources and factories or from container ships with unsecured loads. It is an environmental catastrophe that continues day after day with little news coverage. Most recently this disaster hit the Galician coast when a Maersk container ship spilled millions of these ‘nurdles’ into the Atlantic. 

Earlier this month, I travelled to Galicia, known for its fishing capital Vigo and its famous pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella. I went to aid in the clean up of Galicia’s beach and show support from the European Parliament, as we try to tackle this plague of plastic. It was a scene reminiscent of the infamous Prestige oil tanker spill in 2002 when millions of litres of crude oil clogged the coast and destroyed habitats in one fell swoop. 

There the community of Galicia joined together and put in the work to save their coastline. We don’t know where the plastic pellets were manufactured, but had it not been for the active community of Skibbereen, the plastic pellets could have smeared ‘Made in Ireland” all over the marine ecosystems of northwest Spain with its plastic toxin. 

When these plastic pellets, which are made from petroleum, spill into the ocean it is in my opinion nothing but an oil spill by another name. In fact in many ways it is much more difficult to clean up these disasters, with millions of nurdles washing up on shores across Europe and ending up in the digestive tracts of turtles, whales and the fish that are landed in Castletownbere every day. 

We need better regulation of plastics transport and we need to tackle our society’s deadly addiction to cheap plastic. Unlike the transport of materials like crude oil, which is classified as ‘hazardous to transport’, there are no such regulations for the transport of crude plastics. Yet the issue of plastics in the ocean is so severe that it is estimated by 2050 there will be more plastic in the sea than fish, in terms of weight. 

Last October, the European Commission proposed new legislation to cut down on plastic pellet waste, and this is now being examined by the European Parliament’s Environment Committee. It is a step in the right direction but the legislation doesn’t go far enough. I am fighting in that committee with my Green colleagues to include more restrictions on the maritime transport of plastic pellets. 

The current situation must change. The petrochemical plastic industries that make a profit out of the destruction of the marine environment cannot be defended. Our society’s addiction to plastic has become so severe that plastic packaging and waste has overwhelmed us to the point that we cannot recycle or reuse most of the plastic that is put on our shelves. Much of it will be incinerated or will make its way back into our environment and ultimately in our food or our local communities. This too is an area that needs legislating, which I am currently negotiating under the new EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation.  

The EU should take a lesson from the people of Skibbereen who said loud and clear “we will not be complicit in this plague of plastic.” 

This month I was reminiscing with my friends over glass milk bottles and the little birds that would come and peck through the lid to get to the cream below. I couldn’t help but feel like, since then, we have been duped by the mass production of plastic and the false promise of ‘convenience’ that it provides. Most people feel the same way, especially when we receive the bill for our wheelie bins and the price we have to pay for throwing away all the plastic and packaging we never asked for in the first place. Think of the last time you bought a dozen apples and it came with all that unnecessary cardboard and plastic. In most cases that cardboard and plastic isn’t there to protect the fruit – it is only to make it more appealing to the consumer to spend more money on. 

This is precisely why I took on a new piece of legislation this year aimed at clamping down on the ridiculous and unnecessary packaging we are forced to pay for twice: once at the till and again to dispose of it. In fact, about 40 per cent of all new plastic and 50 per cent of paper is made just for packaging in the EU, with the vast majority designed to be used just once before being thrown away. It could be said that when you go to the supermarket you are as much shopping for plastic and packaging as the products contained within. 

Ireland unfortunately is one of the worst culprits. According to Eurostat, we generate more packaging waste per capita than any other Member State in the EU, with each person on average going through 246 kg of packaging waste a year. In terms of plastic packaging alone, we generate over double the EU average. 

Recently in the European Parliament, we negotiated the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation. Our single most important aim was to reintroduce the idea that packaging, cups, plates, bottles and hundreds of other items should be made of material that can be reused, in a society that increasingly sees these items as once-off and single-use. The idea is that massive corporations like Amazon or McDonalds or Smurfit Kappa cannot replace single-use plastic with single-use cardboard and call it ‘sustainable’. That we have to turn the tide on the throwaway culture cultivated by corporate giants who prefer that the consumer, or the State, pays for disposal of the trash they produce.

When it came to the vote in Parliament however the McDonalds lobby had obviously worked hard on MEPs. The conservative EPP Group, of which Fine Gael is a member, voted against a number of measures including even a ban on individual plastic wrapping for fruit and veg. They even voted against making it cheaper to bring your own coffee cup to the cafe, instead of using more single-use plastic and cardboard cups. 

 On the ground with the ordinary shopper the attitude is very different. Across Ireland, over 70 local groups under the umbrella of ‘Sick of Plastic’ are now taking part in a weekly shop together, recording the amount of unnecessary packaging in an average trolley, and calling out supermarkets for the waste. People are sick of packaging and they are sick of paying for it.

In the Parliament thankfully we succeeded in a number of measures to reduce plastic and packaging. We achieved a modest binding target on Ireland to reduce packaging waste by 15 per cent by 2040. In the near future, return systems for glass bottles will be obligatory. We also achieved a ban on non-compostable plastic bags and teabags as well as a ban on dangerous PFAS chemicals in food packaging. 

In the weeks to come, we fight to make the law even more ambitious. We are sick of plastic, and we’re determined to stop it at the source.

As the EU is proposing a landmark Nature Restoration Law, which would hold EU countries to account for their action (or inaction) to tackle biodiversity loss, I travelled to West Cork and Kerry to see the potential for nature restoration in some of Ireland’s most beautiful areas of natural heritage. 

Unfortunately in Ireland, wild habitats and natural ecosystems have been in decline for decades now as human pressures pile up and add stress to already troubled areas of conservation and special protection. Either on land or at sea, nature is in trouble. From invasive species introduced by humans, to high levels of fertiliser in our waterways, to the disappearance of well-loved species like the corncrake, curlew or basking shark. We all know that urgent action is needed, but disagreements abound as to how we should go about it. 

The European Union has long been the engine behind environmental protections in Ireland. Unfortunately, before the last decade successive governments have consistently failed to put in place legislation protecting areas of natural beauty. Rulings from the European Court of Justice and legislation from the European Commission have filled the gap until now but I am happy to say that the current government is now moving ahead with significant legislation to get ahead of the game. 

As well as the Nature Restoration Law, one of the most important pieces of legislation coming onto the scene in Ireland is the Marine Protected Areas Bill which is working its way through the Oireachtas and aims to protect 30 per cent of our ocean by 2030. This will mean West Cork could be looking at a whole new marine ‘National Park’ of its own in the coming years. To dive into the subject, I headed out from Reen Pier with Cork South West Green Party representative Brendan McCormack and operator of West Cork Ocean Tours Rory Jackson to take in the incredible sights the West Cork coast has to offer. It also offered a chance to reflect on how fragile our marine ecosystems are and the need to protect and restore them. Those living on the coast will testify to the wealth of whale, dolphin and bird species in our waters. Tour guides, ecologists and anglers will also be able to speak to the dwindling numbers of certain species as a result of human activity, overfishing and climate change. In May an extremely rare Angel Shark was spotted in Galway Bay. Unfortunately we may be the last generation on earth to enjoy such sights unless more is done to restore damaged habitats. 

As we work towards expanding our Marine Protected Areas we need to include all stakeholders in the process. I held a meeting in The Quay in Bantry on environmental action and it was clear that some in the fishing industry are concerned about being locked out of rich fishing grounds. Best practice in Europe shows that Marine Protected Areas work best when set up in cooperation with fishermen and women, especially small scale and inshore fishers who have to compete with their industrial counterparts. In places like Pomo Pit in Croatia and Torre Guaceto in Italy, local fishers are now demanding the protected areas be expanded, so good has been the improvement of fish stocks and profits. The same goes for Nature Restoration on land. If we can incentivise Nature Restoration measures to be included in farming practices for better soil quality, production and food security while at the same time encouraging habitat restoration, to me that is a win-win.

As the sun finally burst onto the scene in late May, an unlikely group paid a visit to Ireland’s shores on an important mission. 

Members of the European Parliament, hailing from different parts of Europe and from opposing political groups joined together for a delegation to Ireland’s coastal and fishing communities. Following months of preparation after I had originally proposed the idea some time ago in the European Parliament’s Fisheries Committee, it was great to see a good plan come together. 

Six years have flown by since the fateful night of the Brexit referendum tore the UK out of the European community and the results of that decision are plain to see in the UK today. But what is less known throughout the EU is the continued impact of Brexit on Ireland. Nowhere is this less evident than in Ireland’s fishing towns, where communities and businesses have seen a crushing 15 per cent cut in fishing quotas due to Brexit. With that in mind I invited MEPs from across the continent to come see for themselves the impact that Brexit is still having on our coastal communities. 

While the larger fleet of mackerel trawlers based around Donegal have taken a big hit from Brexit due to their historic activity in Scottish waters, the smaller operations along Ireland’s south coast from Castletownbere to Kilmore Quay in Wexford have seen a different kind of challenge – one that threatens the very existence of these towns and their livelihoods. 

On top of loss of quota, there are very few young men and women who see fishing as a viable career choice from a young age. Our fishing communities are getting older, as younger generations from coastal towns increasingly seek their fortune away from the quayside. While Bord Iascaigh Mhara offers useful trainings for the fishing industry, there is still a need for apprenticeships to get more young people into the career from a young age.  

This presents massive problems for coastal communities and the rest of Irish society as an island nation. As well as the produce that Irish fisheries bring to consumers, we are facing into a decade of unprecedented action needed to defend our seas and oceans from climate change and biodiversity loss. We need fishing communities at the centre of this action. In the same way that we should be rewarding farmers for changing their business models from one that is purely based on quantity and production towards protecting and restoring nature alongside food production, fishers should be compensated to be at the forefront of marine protection. 

The State has embarked on what could be the most significant legislation for marine protection in the history of the State, establishing Marine Protected Areas covering 30 per cent of our waters and setting up a whole new State agency for maritime planning. Fishers should be supported to guide these initiatives. Take for example Torre Guaceto in Italy as a model, where local fishers have requested the local Marine Protected Area be expanded because it has increased fish stocks so much and kept out industrial fishing outfits. 

Meanwhile the potential of offshore wind development means we need mariners more than ever. In Donegal, Killybegs fishers have embarked on a joint venture with wind farm developers to directly benefit from this new feature of our maritime landscape. 

These are the kinds of opportunities we need to include fishers in as State and EU policy. Otherwise we risk losing an important piece of Irish heritage for good.

The Recommendations and Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss recommends that the State must take prompt, decisive and urgent action to address biodiversity loss and restoration and must provide leadership in protecting Ireland’s biodiversity for future generations. In order to achieve this, the report itself contains 159 recommendations, agreed by 99 members of the Assembly. Additionally, the report expresses the Assembly’s disappointment at the State’s failure to adequately fund, implement and enforce existing laws and policies around biodiversity. This reality echoes how many of us, particularly policymakers, have lost touch with the natural side of Ireland. 

This natural side of Ireland is our bedrock and foundation for building thriving societies and economies. Prior to joining the EU, Ireland had failed entirely to maintain and support Ireland’s biodiversity. My recent visits to Bray in Co. Wicklow and the Blasket Islands brought me back into nature, as I connected with a wide range of environmental and biodiversity groups and engaged in outdoor walks and activities. One such activity included a beach clean with Flossie Donnelly, whose brainchild organisation ‘Flossie and the Beach Cleaners’ has encouraged beach clean activities all over Ireland, including on Tragumna beach with Skibbereen Community School last year.

Recently, I had the privilege of meeting Tidy Towns groups which are increasingly focused on the issues of biodiversity loss in Ireland. Every group that I met with had something to offer and were doing their own bit to help the environment and maintain the local biodiversity standards. One volunteer tree planting initiative has transformed a former golf course into a forested area which is being rewilded with native tree species. Some local tidy towns groups are also busy planting with a focus on planting bee friendly plants along what used to be a concrete ledge. These kinds of activities involve the local community, including a lot of young people, while also attracting and supporting the local bees, a win-win for biodiversity!

These examples highlight the steps that local groups across Ireland are taking to protect and enhance Ireland’s natural environment. In order for people to thrive, the natural environment must thrive. This reality of needing to protect nature in order to protect humans is highlighted through the Citizens’ Assembly’s recommendation that nature be provided with protections within the constitution to allow it to continue to provide the necessities of life. These necessities include food, clean freshwater, air and soil, in addition to a clean and healthy environment, which supports all of our communities. 

From travelling across the beaches and cliffs of Ireland to exploring the beauty of the Blasket Islands, April has been a strong month of nature and biodiversity, which Ireland has plenty to offer, but this remains under threat. Seeing the importance of protecting our landscape, echoed through the Recommendations and Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss, offers both a sense of urgency and hope for Ireland’s future.  

As lead negotiator for the European Greens, I am currently working on the reform of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, with a particular focus on plastics. 

In that work, one issue keeps coming up. We cannot keep trying to rely on recycling as a silver bullet to tackle the amount of plastic we create. 

We are drowning in plastic that we don’t even want to use in the first place. Irish people are now the largest consumer of plastic packaging waste in Europe. Almost everyone will tell you that they don’t want to buy all this plastic waste, and they certainly don’t like having to pay to get it taken away and disposed of or recycled. 

Irish consumers are essentially being conned by big supermarket chains and by the plastics industry into buying plastic they didn’t ask for. And our environment is suffering as a result from these mountains of plastic which we are struggling to deal with. 

The same can be said for fisheries where plastic and polymer-based gear is now basically the only game in town. 

As a result, over 90 per cent of Irish protected marine ecosystems are now polluted with plastic, mostly from clothing fibres and fishing gear. Put simply, we need to stop making the plastic in the first place. Production needs to change. 

This impact of plastic pollution on the fishing industry and marine environment was the subject of a recent hearing in the Fisheries Committee of the European Parliament. 

While I welcome efforts made to increase the recycling of fishing nets on land, our reliance on plastic for affordable fishing gear has been a disaster. 

Fishers in Ireland will tell you that they do everything they can including bringing the lost gear of other vessels back to port. Around 95 per cent of fishers in Ireland are involved in the government’s Clean Oceans Initiative for bringing old nets back on shore to be disposed of properly. They are more than aware of the damage plastics are doing to the sea. Fish producers will be able to tell you the wildest stories of the types of plastic that has been pulled from the belly of fish.

Dublin Bay Prawns, or Nephrops Norvegicus as it is known by its latin name, are being found to have microplastic fibres from clothing waste and degraded fishing nets in their digestive systems. All of this makes its way onto our own plates at home and in local restaurants. 

Plastic gear is now cheaper and more accessible than anything else, and while many of the inshore fishers around the coast do their best to cut down on this often there is no alternative product on the market.

A few decades ago a small boat would put out under 100 willow and hazel pots. These were precious handmade pots, and the fisher would make sure to bring back every one. 

With plastic pots, you can put out hundreds for the same price. It is reflective of the rest of society here on land where we rely on plastic for everything. 

To me that means we need a complete overhaul of manufacturing and production. We need to stop importing cheap plastic gear, and instead incentivise and encourage homegrown production like we used to.

 The way we are doing things now, marine ecosystems will continue to suffer and fishers will be blamed for a problem that is the fault of a faulty economic model.

Irish and European manufacturing has been completely taken over by plastics. It’s time we look to the past for solutions to ‘throwaway culture’.  

As an MEP, the work that takes place in the European Union often seems too distant from the people who voted in the European elections back in 2019. It is something that has always bothered me, especially as too often the television and radio in Ireland focuses on American or British news, despite the fact that EU laws and the EU economy now plays a much more important role in our lives today. It is another reason why I am thankful to outlets like the West Cork People and local publications which give us the opportunity to bring Europe to you. 

However, a physical presence is also vital. Now that we have all cancelled our Zoom subscriptions and we would rather not even think about the months and years spent on lockdown during the Covid pandemic which took so many of our friends and loved ones, I figured it was well overdue to open an office in Cork. 

As a native of Tramore, I travel between Waterford and Brussels on a regular basis. Coming back to my three amazing daughters in Tramore or heading out to vote in Committees and Parliament sessions in Brussels. On the weekends I stay with my daughters or I will coach surfing down on the beach in Tramore with the local kids. But serving a constituency that stretches from Wicklow to Clare, and everywhere south of that, requires a lot more time listening and learning from constituents from every walk of life. 

About a quarter of the population of the constituency of Ireland South live in County Cork alone and there is massive potential for Cork, and the West Cork coast in particular, to play a leading role in the climate transition.

With a great team assembled we set about finding the perfect spot in the centre of Cork City for a brand new office, and I am so grateful to the volunteers who turned out to put a fresh lick of green paint on the new space, inside and out. Local activists were on the ground in force, including local representative for Bandon-Kinsale, Dr. Marc O’Riain. We may have got a little overzealous though and at one point we accidentally painted some of the next door neighbour’s wall too! 

There is so much happening now across Cork, and I would like to use this new space as an opportunity for people who care about the environment and the health of our ocean to use the space – a kind of a ‘green hub’ for fresh ideas on climate action. In particular I am thinking of the new Marine Protected Areas legislation that is passing through the Oireachtas this year, as well as the much needed expansion of our offshore wind energy production for which West Cork in particular is well placed. With the unmatched beauty of our south and west coasts, this county should be the leader in the protection of the environment and marine protection and we have a great team of local representatives there including Liz Coakley Wakefield from Bantry and Rory Jackson from Skibbereen.

So if you’re in the city in the coming weeks and months and you are interested in what we are doing in terms of environmental protection and social justice, stop by our new office on Washington Street in Cork City. The kettle’s already on!

The admirable young man Seán Binder, whose name has become well-known from Tralee to Thessaloniki, was going on trial in Greece for his role in search and rescue missions dating back to 2017. The charges against him were spurious and almost incredible in their vagueness. But it was linked to something bigger going on in the halls of power in Brussels. 

I had been in contact with Seán’s campaign for the best part of two years as they were keen to show that this was not just a local Greek issue. The criminalisation of refugees and humanitarian workers across Europe’s borders was an EU problem. 

The wake of Putin’s horrendous war on the Ukrainian people has brought a number of reflections on Europe’s asylum and migration policy as well as on Ireland’s response; Communities big and small in Ireland have clearly been willing to open their doors to people fleeing from the war. Lest we open the door to the politics of us-versus-them and xenophobia however, it is clear that we need a coordinated response including housing, education and healthcare. We have also learned that there is still a strong will amongst European countries to act on humanitarian crises in a humane and caring way.

The people of Lesbos in Greece have been living through one refugee crisis to the next, for over two hundred years. Ethnic Greeks fled the Ottoman Empire through its ports, while Muslims took refuge there, going in the other direction. Democrats have taken shelter on Lesbos from Greek coups and dictatorships throughout the 20th century. Jews fled the fascist occupation during the Second World War. And more recently, the people of that small island have seen hundreds of thousands of refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, even Congo pass through their island looking for a better future in Europe.

In the middle of that recent mass movement of people was Seán Binder, who more often than not, in his own words, offered just a blanket and a smile to people who had just made it through unimaginable trauma on the crossing from Turkey to Greece in flimsy dinghies. 

Seán had invited me to attend the trial, to ensure that the failings of the trial and the legislation surrounding it could also reach the centre of EU asylum and migration policymaking in Brussels. Together with about two dozen other defendants and a strong team of campaigners, activists, family and friends, the 27-year-old who was raised between Castlegregory, Tralee and Cork City had an incredible network of support around him. From Ireland, messages came streaming, in support. 

On the other side of the bench in the packed courtroom, it was clear the prosecution was well aware of the holes in their case: Seán and his colleagues had not been afforded the right to translated documents. The indictments didn’t even say who was accused of accusing what crimes and where. The case was bound to fail. And it did, thankfully. 

A week later, we brought the case to the attention of Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson on the floor of the European Parliament. Reform of EU migration and asylum is expected to be kickstarted again this year. To avoid another trial like that faced by Seán Binder, we need to ensure that policy works for refugees, humanitarians and our communities at home.

At that time, our economy was almost entirely reliant on Britain, as was our application to join the European Community. Twice Britain’s application to join was rejected and ours along with it. 

Since then, access to the Single Market has allowed us to diversify our economy and make joint political decisions with our European partners. 

At times the European Union, as it came to be named, forced our hand to make difficult decisions. For example, it could well be argued that had it not been for the European Union’s enforcement, Ireland would have no environmental legislation at all until the Green Party entered government for the first time.  

The EU has undeniably been a game changer when it comes to environmental protections, since the 1979 Birds Directive, the Habitats Directive that came after and the Water Framework Directive which have guided local authorities and national governments into cleaning up and taking better care of the world around us. 

With the advent of the European Green Deal, the EU’s response to the climate and biodiversity crises, 2023 is gearing up to be another key moment in the EU’s history of environmental protections. The EU has made a number of New Years’ Resolutions, but unlike my promise to myself cut down on sugar or swim more regularly, these resolutions are legally binding. 

The Biodiversity Strategy commits to protecting a massive 30 per cent of our seas and land by 2030. The government has signed on to this goal, and the legislation for establishing massive Marine Protected Areas in our vast sea area has begun to make its way through the Dáil under the tutelage of Minister Malcolm Noonan. It is so heartening to be able to work on this progress, as it forms the backbone of what I campaigned for throughout the 1980s and 1990s with Greenpeace.

A massive amount of work this year will go into changing how we manage and care for our oceans as an island nation. This year we will set up a new government agency, MARA, with the task of licencing activities like Offshore Wind development in Irish seas and ensuring that the rules are adhered to. 

2023 will also see the passing of a Restoration Law at EU level, which will require the restoration of damaged habitats and ecosystems such as peatlands and seagrass beds. This is intended to encourage governments to take a proactive approach to environmental protection, and to put real value on taking care of our most vulnerable ecosystems. 

I go swimming at least once a week if I can at home on the beach in Tramore, County Waterford and I know that along with many sea-swimmers (many of whom took up the habit during Covid) I will be much more at ease knowing that we are taking better care of our seas and oceans this year.

I have the pleasure of writing this from the new constituency office on Washington Street in Cork City, another great city of seafarers. The office will bring a concrete footing to the environmental movement in Cork, and while a lot of work remains to be done on the space itself, I encourage you to keep an eye out for events and initiatives on ocean protection and activism taking place there in the coming year.

Back in the 1980s, I spent plenty of time in and out of police cars, military boats and detention centres, as a result of various demonstrations and protests with Greenpeace and the Rainbow Warrior. In a way, we were asking for it with the provocative activism that was the Greenpeace modus operandi back then. Nowadays, Greenpeace is a massive organisation that is capable of mobilising massive amounts of people and funds in order to combat climate change and tackle environmental issues on the ground. I still feel strongly that their work paved the way for the massive climate movement we see today, but it came at a significant cost to activists and their families, including Fernando Pereira who ultimately lost his life in the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior in 1985. 

I was lucky, as I was only ever detained or deported and was never arrested or had to face the uncertain justice of foreign courts far from home. Thousands of activists continue to face persecution and criminalisation for their passion today worldwide.

One such activist is young Seán Binder, who grew up in Castlegregory, not far from Dingle. Some readers will recognise Seán as the brave young man and lawyer-to-be who went to the Greek island of Lesbos in 2017 to help search and rescue efforts for people fleeing from places like Syria and Afghanistan. 

His friend and co-accused, Sarah Mardini, had escaped from wartorn Syria to find her way to Germany with her sister Yusra. In an incredible story, which has now been adapted for Netflix movie ‘The Swimmers’, Sarah and Yusra jumped into the Mediterranean water when their refugee boat began to take on water and they pushed, pulled and swam ashore in a journey that took over three hours. Some time later, Sarah made the incredibly courageous decision returned to Lesbos intent on helping others who found themselves in similarly precarious and life-threatening circumstances. 

Together, Sean, Sarah and others worked to provide a warm welcome for some of the most vulnerable people on this earth. While they found the locals of Lesbos were receptive to their work, the powers-that-be came down hard. The humanitarian workers were arrested, put in prison for over 100 days of pre-trial detention and interrogated. 

About this time last year, Sean and Sarah were due to face a Greek judge on charges of espionage, forgery and assisting a criminal organisation related to this work. Charges which human rights organisations have described as spurious and ‘trumped up’ in a deliberate attempt to discourage civil society organisations from working in Greece. The trial was postponed on a technicality and justice delayed for another year. 

On January 10, they go back to Lesbos to face the judge again, and I will go too. It is vital that Irish political and civil leaders show their solidarity with Sean and his co-accused, not only to support one of our own, but to stand up for the very basic acts of humanity that they embody. 

As an island nation we have seen our tragic share of shipwreck and death at sea, and we know that saving lives on the water is a fundamental tenet of the seafarer’s code, let alone international law. 

In a trial motivated by political machinations and shadowy reasoning, designed to deter and to discourage, we must bring everything to bear to have this trial thrown out and the charges dropped. I invite you, dear reader, to join the campaign. 

Grace O’Sullivan is the Green Party MEP for Ireland South, mother, former Greenpeace activist, and ecologist.

It has been a busy few weeks for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and unfortunately, it hasn’t been good news for the state of Ireland’s nature. Almost half of our rivers and lakes are now polluted and almost a fifth of them in ‘bad’ or ‘poor’ condition, according to the agency’s latest report on water quality. Pristine rivers in Ireland have dropped dramatically from 500 to just 20 in the last half century. 

The results are shocking but unfortunately, they don’t come as a surprise. Ireland’s natural heritage has been in decline for as long as I can remember and we have only recently had a government that has made it a priority. 

Agricultural run-off, in particular from nitrogen-based fertilisers, impacts more than 1,000 of our waterbodies and the south coast is more affected than anywhere else due to the intensification of modern farming. Ecosystem collapse is the single greatest threat to the future of farming in this country and it’s clear that for a liveable future in farming we need to find better balance with nature. 

Historically there has been little political will in Ireland to tackle our environmental problems head on. Too often, successive administrations were happy to avoid any concrete environmental action and to wait for the European Union to slap us with million euro fines for not tending our own garden. 

This has led us to the situation we are in today where we are taking drastic action to fight back against declining environmental standards, water quality, as well as climate change. A new River Basin Management Plan will help to tackle issues such as inadequately treated sewage. We are also putting record levels of investment into water infrastructure. Places like Castletownbere and Cobh have benefitted directly from an end to pumping raw sewage into the sea, but 32 places in the country are still doing this for lack of any alternative. 

Things might be looking brighter for our oceans however given recent action at EU level.

The European Commission just closed off about 16,000km2 of Irish deep-sea waters to human interference due to the presence of vulnerable marine ecosystems. In the European Parliament my team and I had a hectic few weeks negotiating a resolution for a strong EU position on marine protection ahead of the upcoming climate talks at COP27. The ocean produces half our oxygen and absorbs a third of CO2 emissions so it is imperative that Ireland, as an island nation, plays a leading role in protecting it. 

In the European Parliament there is no government or opposition, so we have to build partnerships and alliances with many different parties to get legislation over the line. It makes for tense arguments, but often means a refreshing break from party politics. In the case of the resolution on ocean protection, the process worked well and we achieved language calling for strong governance of our oceans, including a ban on gas and oil drilling in the Arctic and an end to bottom-trawling in Marine Protected Areas.  

There are a few fights on our hands coming this year however. The government is to designate 30 per cent of our waters as marine protected areas by 2030 and this will not be easy given the size of our marine space. The coming EU Restoration Law will be very ambitious and will require us to restore our many failing habitats and ecosystems to healthy status. In Ireland, given the latest reports, it is clear that this will be an uphill challenge.