Conserving the Emerald Tiger

For many, the formation of the Environmental Protection Agency in 1992 heralded a new beginning in Irish politics, that finally the 'green issue' had been accorded its rightful place on the political agenda. As an ecological cipher of these 'new times' it expressed the new found belief that, as a cosmopolitan European State, Ireland could be confident of retaining its green image while competing in the new global economy. And yet, a decade on it is almost impossible to watch the news or read a newspaper without encountering reference to the problems of Ireland's ecology. This book argues that if we are to understand these issues we need to rid ourselves of the view that Irish politics is simply about what takes place in the Dáil. The politics of the environment embraces issues that are at the very heart of Irish democracy: state intervention; economic growth and environmental conservation and political protest about dioxin release, genetically modified foods or landfills. In a nutshell, this book argues that while the Irish State had recognized the need to revamp environmental policy, its principal aim was to ensure that further, more stringent regulation would not be detrimental to the economic performance of the Emerald Tiger.