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
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Page 19
... environmental policy decisions may well require a very different style of environmental politics than Ireland has seen heretofore . I will argue here that it in fact requires a move towards a politics of systematic negotiation , which ...
... environmental policy decisions may well require a very different style of environmental politics than Ireland has seen heretofore . I will argue here that it in fact requires a move towards a politics of systematic negotiation , which ...
Page 26
... environmental issues . I also mean how they combine together to set agendas , reach decisions , and enforce policies and laws . The hardware of environmental policy relates to how should environmental policy be decided , and then later ...
... environmental issues . I also mean how they combine together to set agendas , reach decisions , and enforce policies and laws . The hardware of environmental policy relates to how should environmental policy be decided , and then later ...
Page 85
... environmental policy INTRODUCTION What has been Ireland's historical experience with environmental policy ? Such a question is important if one is to get a fuller understanding of Irish environmental performance . This chapter takes a ...
... environmental policy INTRODUCTION What has been Ireland's historical experience with environmental policy ? Such a question is important if one is to get a fuller understanding of Irish environmental performance . This chapter takes a ...
Contents
A Comparative Critique | 40 |
A Brief History of Irish | 85 |
A Reform Agenda | 176 |
Copyright | |
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April argued Askeaton Available average blame game Bord Pleanála capita carbon tax CEC/Commission Celtic Tiger cent chapter CHART climate change CO₂ Commission controversial countries County Council Court debate DELG/Department Denmark Dublin Dúchas ecological modernization ecological modernization approach economic EEA/European Environment Agency emissions trading enforcement environmental issues environmental laws Environmental Performance environmental problems Environmental Protection environmentalists EPA/Environmental Protection Agency European Communities European Environment example Forfás funding Government Stationery Office Greece greenhouse gas greenhouse gas emissions Heritage Council IBEC implementation incineration increase industrial infrastructure institutional Ireland's environmental Irish authorities Irish environmental policy Irish environmentalists Irish government Kyoto landfill Luxembourg measures Minister monitoring motorway O'Brien OECD Office for Official Official Publications packaging waste political pollution Portugal Press Release public transport recycling reduce reform regulation regulatory renewable energy REPAK sector serious simply strategy sustainable development Taisce tonnes trends waste management Wexford