Category Archives: The island environment

Is it fanciful to imagine that Donegal might serve as a model for a harmonious united Ireland?

Posted on Thursday, 24 July, 2025 by andypollak

Is it totally fanciful to imagine that Donegal might serve as a model for a harmonious united Ireland? I have just returned after a week’s cycling in that beautiful northernmost county, where this unlikely notion was among my passing thoughts … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Irish reunification, Protestantism, unionism and loyalism, Republic of Ireland, The island environment | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Cycling through the ‘hidden heartlands’ of this wondrous island

Posted on Wednesday, 31 July, 2024 by andypollak

July is the month I take a break from political commentary and go cycling around Ireland. Two years ago – with my friend David Ward – I cycled from Mizen Head in west Cork to Fair Head in north Antrim. … Continue reading →

Posted in General, The island environment | 4 Comments

A crumbling ‘end of days’ feel in Northern Ireland as infrastructure totters

Posted on Thursday, 28 September, 2023 by andypollak

It’s not very often that this blog plagiarises a column from an Irish daily newspaper. But a truly shocking column by that fine Belfast Telegraph journalist Sam McBride1 is worth reprinting (almost) in full because it outlines in graphic detail … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Northern Ireland, The island environment | 3 Comments

Now for something completely different: an optimistic story about climate change

Posted on Tuesday, 3 January, 2023 by andypollak

In the first week of January 2023 it is not easy to be optimistic. There is no obvious end to the cruel, grinding Russian war against Ukraine. Economic recession looms for the West. Climate change targets are being missed all … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Ireland, Europe and the world, The island environment, Views from abroad | Leave a comment

From Rebel Cork to Orange Antrim: a cyclist’s journey through the gorgeous heart of Ireland

Posted on Thursday, 14 July, 2022 by andypollak

In the first eleven days of July I cycled with my friend David Ward from Mizen Head in west Cork to Fair Head in north Antrim to raise money for Concern’s work for girls’ education in Afghanistan. The journey confirmed … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, The island environment | 4 Comments

Could North-South agri-food cooperation help cross the rural-urban climate change divide?

Posted on Wednesday, 17 November, 2021 by andypollak

So in the end the political will did not exist among world leaders at COP26 in Glasgow to radically tackle global warming. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned at the end of the conference: “We are still knocking on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Cross-border cooperation, General, Ireland, Europe and the world, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, The island environment | Leave a comment

My tribute to a group of mountaineering Irishmen (and a note about Micheal D.)

Posted on Monday, 11 October, 2021 by andypollak

For the past 48 years I have been hill-walking with a group of men – mainly Dubliners – the length and breadth of Ireland: mainly in Wicklow, but also in Kerry, Connemara, Mayo, Donegal, the Cooleys and the Mournes. I … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Republic of Ireland, The island environment | 4 Comments

A hill-walker’s return to the most beautiful county in Ireland

Posted on Monday, 16 August, 2021 by andypollak

It is surely no coincidence that I choose to take my Irish holidays in a place that is as far away from Northern Ireland as one can get. Kerry is simply the most beautiful and fascinating (and peaceful) county in … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Republic of Ireland, The island environment | 3 Comments

Walking the Kerry Way to happiness

Posted on Friday, 21 August, 2020 by andypollak

Earlier this month I took my annual long summer walk for five days along the Kerry Way. I left Killarney on a sunny Monday morning along the Old Kenmare Road and passed through the ancient, boulder-strewn oak forests above Derrycunnihy … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Republic of Ireland, The island environment | 2 Comments

Is the future green (saving the planet) or green (driving on to Irish unity)?

Posted on Monday, 1 June, 2020 by andypollak

We in the Republic of Ireland have two prospects when it comes to the colour of the next government (and indeed the one after that), I would suggest. Those prospects have little to do with Fine Gael or Fianna Fail. … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Irish reunification, Republic of Ireland, Sinn Fein, The island environment | 2 Comments