The Blame Game: Rethinking Ireland's Sustainable Development and Environmental PerformanceIrish Academic Press, 2007 - 278 pages Dr Flynn covers all of the above questions and more in his new book The Blame Game. A must-read for anyone interested in environmental issues in Ireland. Ireland's record in the field of environmental protection is one of the worst in Europe, and this book explores the reasons why. It examines the evolution of Irish environmental policy over the so-called 'Celtic Tiger' years of Ireland's economic boom while looking to the future as well. It considers why Ireland's environmental performance has been so lacklustre during this period, and what scope exists for improvement. The emphasis is placed primarily on institutional aspects of Irish environmental policy. In particular, this book offers a strong critique of the current Irish style of reaching environmental decisions, an excessive dependence on legal instruments, and a weak Irish local government system. The author further argues that Ireland has developed an institutional style of policy-making that urgently needs reform. He suggest a number of discreet but related problems that need to be understood and addressed. These include an excessive adversarial style of interaction between environmentalists, the Irish state, and business - the 'blame game' described in the title. Also fatal, is a complacency among the Irish policy elite, who have chosen to downplay environmental problems and continue to think of environmental policy as merely about corrective regulation, rather than adopting the wider and more ambitious vision of sustainable development. Individual chapters cover a range of topics, and the book will appeal to readers interested in comparative environmental policy and politics, the role of institutions in environmental policy-making, or indeed anyone keen to understand the post 'Celtic Tiger' politics and society of an Ireland in transition.Ã?Â?Ã?Â? |
From inside the book
Results 1-3 of 43
Page 62
... become a success by effectively curtailing the rights of road use for ordinary car drivers , who cannot use such lanes at peak times . Progress has come about by actually limiting road access for private cars . In other words , there is ...
... become a success by effectively curtailing the rights of road use for ordinary car drivers , who cannot use such lanes at peak times . Progress has come about by actually limiting road access for private cars . In other words , there is ...
Page 63
... become more energy efficient , but the gains are nowhere near as spectacular as has been claimed by Butler , especially when they are understood in a comparative context . Moreover , more serious issues concerning the sustainability of ...
... become more energy efficient , but the gains are nowhere near as spectacular as has been claimed by Butler , especially when they are understood in a comparative context . Moreover , more serious issues concerning the sustainability of ...
Page 183
... become much more professional , and has tried to broaden its focus . Yet it remains very much specialized on the issues of planning , or urban and rural heritage conservation . In effect it has become a planning ' fire brigade ' . Other ...
... become much more professional , and has tried to broaden its focus . Yet it remains very much specialized on the issues of planning , or urban and rural heritage conservation . In effect it has become a planning ' fire brigade ' . Other ...
Contents
A Comparative Critique | 40 |
A Brief History of Irish | 85 |
A Reform Agenda | 176 |
Copyright | |
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