Power, discourse and participation in nature conflicts: the case of turf cutters in the governance of Ireland's raised bog designations

This paper explores how participatory processes and the politics of contestation and resistance converge to influence changes in discourses and institutional structures underpinning the implementation of the EU Habitats Directive in Ireland. It highlights the potential of environmental partnership processes to disrupt the usual scalar hierarchy for regulation. The focus is specifically on the designation of raised bogs and the role of power relations and legitimacy discourses in participatory governance processes established by government. In particular this paper critiques the participatory governance process and attempts to legitimise the enforcement of the Habitats Directive in the face of resistance by the TCCA (Turf Cutters and Contractors Association). Whilst the purpose of the designation is to protect unique habitats, another effect has been to prohibit the traditional right to cut turf on Special Areas of Conservation (SACs). The rationale behind the designation and the mechanisms by which this process has been mediated has been highly contested, with the TCCA claiming the scope inherent in the Directive to consider the de-classification of SACs to have been inadequately addressed by government. The paper concludes with a Foucauldian critique of regulatory authority, legitimacy discourses and agency in the application of participatory processes underpinning environmental regulatio

Optimising Nutrition Of Containerised Nursery Stock

End of Project ReportIrish peat, used as a growing medium in horticulture, tends to have a higher state of decomposition and a higher potential buffering capacity than some of the younger peats from Scandinavian or Baltic countries. Particularly where hard water, with high bicarbonate content, is used for irrigation this could be an important property in giving the peat greater stability with respect to pH levels throughout the cropping period. It may also influence the optimum rate of lime to be applied to adjust the pH prior to cropping. The effect of peat type on the performance of nursery stock plants, Azalea and Hebe in 2-litre containers, was studied when irrigated with both soft and hard water and with different rates of lime in the peat growing medium. When irrigated with hard water, the rate of pH increase was less with relatively decomposed Irish peat than with younger Baltic peats. Using Irish peat, a rate of dolomitic lime addition to the peat of 4 kg/m3 was best for Hebe when irrigated with soft water. Irrigating with hard water the lime rate could vary between 2 and 4 kg/m3 without affecting plant performance. With the Baltic peats, increasing the rate of lime addition above 2 kg/m3 tended to reduce growth of Hebe. Azalea gave better results when irrigated with soft water. In hard water areas therefore it is advisable, if possible, to collect rain water from a greenhouse roof for irrigation purposes. A zero rate of lime gave inferior results with Azalea. With hard water a rate of 1 kg/m3 was optimum. With soft water this could be increased to 2 kg/m3 without damage. New formulations of the controlled release fertiliser (CRF) have been introduced recently. An experiment was carried out to evaluate the CRFs available in Ireland for the production of containerised nursery stock over a 12 month period. The effect of rate of CRF was also studied. Experiments were also located in the Colleges of Horticulture in Warrenstown and Kildalton. All the CRFs in these experiments produced acceptable results in terms of plant performance. There were differences between the CRFs but these were not consistent between the experiments. The vigorous species Lonicera pileata and Escallonia macrantha responed positively to rates of CRF up to 8 kg/m3. The conifer, Thuja plicata gave no response to rates above 6 kg/m3. In an experiment over two seasons using 20 nursery stock species, a liquid feeding system resulted in heavier plants of most species than did one based on a controlled release fertiliser.European Union Structural Funds (EAGGF

Copper(11) complex of a tridentate N-Donor ligand with unexpected Cu-H interaction

The new pyridineâamine ligand, meophdpa (bis(dipyridylmethyl)-4-methoxyaniline) was synthesised and reacted with copper(II) perchlorate. The X-ray crystal structure of the resulting complex revealed a monomeric copper(II) site, with the copper bound to the three ligand nitrogens in a relatively unusual meridional fashion, as well as a chloride and a water molecule. The sixth coordination site was, unexpectedly, occupied by a phenyl ring hydrogen atom. Graphical abstract A new pyridineâamine ligand has been prepared and its reaction with copper perchlorate characterised. An interesting phenyl-HâCu interaction was observed

Situating spatial justice in counter-urban lifestyle mobilities:Relational rural theory in a time of crisis

The COVID-19 pandemic has renewed the rural idyll, as urban-dwellers seek greener, safer spaces. If the counter-urban trend appears for novel reasons, it does so along lifestyle mobilities’ well-worn paths. These paths often depend upon spatial inequalities. Yet, despite awareness that inequalities undergird mobilities, spatial inequalities have remained under-theorized in the lifestyle mobilities literature. This article remedies the gap through the concept of spatial justice. Initially asserting the ‘right to’ urban space, spatial justice has been recently re-thought at a regional scale, and is an emerging interpretation of rural marginalization and redress. As a normative concept, however, spatial justice risks simplistically measuring the distribution and presuming sedentarism. By applying spatial justice to lifestyle mobilities pre-pandemic and looking ahead to future shifts, we offer a nuanced, relational perspective on the theory and the field. Through qualitative case studies from rural and peripheral regions in Wales and Ireland, we show how inequalities and mobilities are complex and inter-related, with significant implications for regional sustainability, cohesion and identity. As the discourse of being ‘all in this together' has rapidly unravelled, we argue that theorizing spatial inequalities is an urgent task for futures beyond recovery – and that lifestyle mobilities are deeply implicated

Policy drivers of farm succession and inheritance

peer-reviewedFarm succession and inheritance is increasingly considered a complex phenomenon which not only affects core dimensions of farm family life but also the agricultural sector more widely. Intergenerational farm transfer in particular is increasingly viewed as fundamental to the sustainability and development of global agriculture. In the majority of EU countries, the average age of farmers is increasing, while the number of farmers under 40 years of age is decreasing. There is growing concern that this demographic trend may have negative impacts on the agricultural industry because it is younger and not older farmers who are associated with more efficient and effective production practices. The question of what motivates decisions to transfer farms is a complex one, and research to date has not apparently enlightened agricultural policy to the extent that current trends towards an ageing farm population are being managed. This research aims to investigate economic and financial aspects of the policy drivers of farm succession and inheritance in Ireland to understand what it is about the policy environment that is failing to stimulate higher levels of farm transfer. It draws on the Teagasc National Farm Survey data which provides Irish data to the Farm Accountancy Data Network in the European Commission. A hypothetical microsimulation model is used to investigate economic factors of farm transfers, with scenarios created to test these factors and their impacts on the transfer process. The Net Present Value (NPV) of income streams for farmers and their successors are calculated to assess which scenarios have the highest/lowest financial effects. The findings illustrate a range of possible scenarios for farm succession/inheritance, with some results indicating that under current policy retaining a farm until death may be more economically beneficial to a farmer than transferring land before death

Risky (farm) business: Perceptions of economic risk in farm succession and inheritance

peer-reviewedHighlights • Generational renewal is high on the political agenda for agriculture, with young farmers linked to positive outcomes. • There are limited policy incentives for older farmers to consider engaging in the farm succession and inheritance process. • Farmers perceive risks and uncertainties regarding the transfer process, and thus avoid handing over to their successors. • Taxation, retirement income, long term care cost, and marital breakdown are motivations for farmers to retain ownership. • Financial incentives related to generational renewal must aim to alleviate the level of risk perceived by farmers.Royal Dublin Societ

GPS-Prot: A web-based visualization platform for integrating host-pathogen interaction data

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The increasing availability of HIV-host interaction datasets, including both physical and genetic interactions, has created a need for software tools to integrate and visualize the data. Because these host-pathogen interactions are extensive and interactions between human proteins are found within many different databases, it is difficult to generate integrated HIV-human interaction networks.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We have developed a web-based platform, termed GPS-Prot <url>http://www.gpsprot.org</url>, that allows for facile integration of different HIV interaction data types as well as inclusion of interactions between human proteins derived from publicly-available databases, including MINT, BioGRID and HPRD. The software has the ability to group proteins into functional modules or protein complexes, generating more intuitive network representations and also allows for the uploading of user-generated data.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>GPS-Prot is a software tool that allows users to easily create comprehensive and integrated HIV-host networks. A major advantage of this platform compared to other visualization tools is its web-based format, which requires no software installation or data downloads. GPS-Prot allows novice users to quickly generate networks that combine both genetic and protein-protein interactions between HIV and its human host into a single representation. Ultimately, the platform is extendable to other host-pathogen systems.</p

International mobility and migration of rural population

This presentation summarizes the results of the WP on international migration into rural areas in the FP7 project DERREG

The Necrotic Signal Induced by Mycophenolic Acid Overcomes Apoptosis-Resistance in Tumor Cells

The amount of inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMPDH), a pivotal enzyme for the biosynthesis of the guanosine tri-phosphate (GTP), is frequently increased in tumor cells. The anti-viral agent ribavirin and the immunosuppressant mycophenolic acid (MPA) are potent inhibitors of IMPDH. We recently showed that IMPDH inhibition led to a necrotic signal requiring the activation of Cdc42.Herein, we strengthened the essential role played by this small GTPase in the necrotic signal by silencing Cdc42 and by the ectopic expression of a constitutive active mutant of Cdc42. Since resistance to apoptosis is an essential step for the tumorigenesis process, we next examined the effect of the MPA–mediated necrotic signal on different tumor cells demonstrating various mechanisms of resistance to apoptosis (Bcl2-, HSP70-, Lyn-, BCR-ABL–overexpressing cells). All tested cells remained sensitive to MPA–mediated necrotic signal. Furthermore, inhibition of IMPDH activity in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia cells was significantly more efficient at eliminating malignant cells than apoptotic inducers.These findings indicate that necrosis and apoptosis are split signals that share few if any common hub of signaling. In addition, the necrotic signaling pathway induced by depletion of the cellular amount of GTP/GDP would be of great interest to eliminate apoptotic-resistant tumor cells

Search for composite and exotic fermions at LEP 2

A search for unstable heavy fermions with the DELPHI detector at LEP is reported. Sequential and non-canonical leptons, as well as excited leptons and quarks, are considered. The data analysed correspond to an integrated luminosity of about 48 pb^{-1} at an e^+e^- centre-of-mass energy of 183 GeV and about 20 pb^{-1} equally shared between the centre-of-mass energies of 172 GeV and 161 GeV. The search for pair-produced new leptons establishes 95% confidence level mass limits in the region between 70 GeV/c^2 and 90 GeV/c^2, depending on the channel. The search for singly produced excited leptons and quarks establishes upper limits on the ratio of the coupling of the excited fermio