Meetings
Citizens' Assembly on
Biodiversity Loss
15-16 October 2022
Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss
Meeting: 15-16 October 2022
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Saturday 15 October
From 8 am Registration, coffee
8:45 am Members introduce themselves at their roundtables
9:00 am Introduction by the Chairperson, Dr Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin
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The Biodiversity Crisis
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9:05 am Brehon Law & Ireland’s traditions looking to/after the environment Dr Elva Johnston, School of History, University College Dublin [Presentation]
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Agriculture & Biodiversity – Policies and Practices Past & Present
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9:15 am General Interactions between Agriculture and Biodiversity
Dr Helen Sheridan, School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin [Presentation]
9:30 am Agricultural biodiversity: Current policies, programmes and practices
Dr Daire Ó hUallacháin, Senior Research Officer in Ecology & Water Quality, Teagasc [Presentation]
9:45 am Roundtable discussion (private session)
10:10 am Q&A
10:25 am Coffee
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Hearing from Farmers
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10:40 am Voices of Farmers:
– Biodiversity and the farm
– Successes and challenges in managing biodiversity
Panel One
Macra na Feirme – Shane Fitzgerald – Dairy farmer from Waterford whose farm is a participant in the Teagasc Signpost Programme [Presentation]
IFA – Paul O’Brien (Environment Committee Chair) – Sheep and Tillage farmer in Graignamanagh Co, Kilkenny for 34 years [Presentation]
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ICMSA – Pat McCormack (President) – County Tipperary dairy farmer who supplies Tipp Coop with spring calving herd
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Irish Organic Association – Stephen Meredith (Policy advisor) – Organic beef and tillage farmer, working with his father and brother near Ballylinan, Co. Laois [Presentation]
11:05 am Roundtable discussion (private session)
11:30 am Q&A
11:50 am Voices of Farmers:
Panel Two
Talamh Beo – Maurice Deasy – Arable and Sheep farmer with his father in North Tipperary [Presentaion]
INHFA – Aideen McGloin – Sheep and Beef Farmer, Ox Mountains, South Sligo [Presentation]
ICSA – Dan Lynam – Farmer for 55 years, farming 400 acres with his son in Westmeath [Presentation]
Irish Grain Growers – Pat Cleary – Farms 600 acres with his two sons – the family’s 6th farming generation – in Kildare [Presentation]
12:15 pm Roundtable discussion (private session)
12:40 pm Q&A
1:00 pm Lunch
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What can we learn from others?
2:00 pm What can we learn from other countries?
Prof. Lynn Dicks, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge [Presentaion]
2:15 pm Engaging and motivating farmers to reverse biodiversity loss
Dr Brendan Dunford, Manager, Burren Programme and founder of Burrenbeo Trust [Presentation]
2:30 pm Roundtable discussion (private session)
2:55 pm Q&A
3:10 pm Coffee & interlude
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Woodlands, Forestry and Biodiversity in Ireland
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3:25 pm Overview: Woodlands and Forests – Biodiversity Loss and Recovery
Richard Nairn, Director Natura Trees, member of the Steering Committee of Woodlands of Ireland [Presentation]
3:40 pm Coillte Forestry and Biodiversity
Mark Carlin, Managing Director for Forestry, Coillte [Presention]
3:50 pm Roundtable discussion (private session)
4:15 pm Q&A
4:30 pm Woodland and Forestry video
4:45 pm Roundtable discussion (private session)
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5:00 pm Q&A with people featured in Woodland and Forestry video
- Eoghan Daltun – Beara Rainforest, Cork
- Caroline Stanley – Friends of Merlin Wood, Galway
- Andy Francis – Sitka spruce plantation farmer, Tipperary
5:20 pm Session ends
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Sunday 16 October
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9:00 am Questions from Saturday’s sessions with the EAG
9:30 am Environmental Rights and Rights of Nature
Prof. Áine Ryall, School of Law, University College Cork [Presentation]
9:45 am Q&A
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Peatlands and Biodiversity
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10:00 am Overview of Peatlands & Biodiversity
Dr Catherine Farrell, Ecologist, Coordinator Peatlands Gathering 2021 [Presentation]
10:15 am Peatlands: Voices from the Community
Irish Rural Link – Seamus Boland, Chief Executive Officer [Presentation]
Community Wetlands Forum – Ciaran Duggan – Farmer, forester and bog man, connecting nature with community as a member of the Carbury bog committee [Presentation]
Irish Peatlands Conservation Council – Nuala Madigan, Chief Executive Officer [Presentation]
10:40 am Roundtable discussion (private session)
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11:05 am Q&A
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11:20 am Coffee
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11:35 am Taking stock (1hr 10mins) (private session)
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12:45 pm Evaluation forms completion
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12:55 pm Wrap up by Chairperson
1:00 pm Meeting ends
