We risk EU fine for not taking care of wildlife

By Paul Melia Thursday October 09 2008 The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) yesterday admitted that Ireland is now running the risk of being fined by the EU for not safeguarding wildlife. The European Court of Justice ruled in 2007 that Ireland did not have a system of strict protection for specific protected species in place. The Government was also warned that the conservation status of key habitats which required protection under the EU Habitats Directive was "far from satisfactory". A number of native Irish species are listed in the report as having a "poor" or "bad" overall conservation status, including the Irish hare, the otter, the common frog, the freshwater pearl mussel, the Atlantic salmon and the whorl snail. Complying with environmental... [read full story]