David Healy

Ending Ireland's dependence on gas and oil is proving painfully slow www.irishtimes.com/environment/...

If you are an EU citizen, please sign the Rights for Nature Initiative www.rightsfornature.eu

NTA's timetable for future phases of the bus network redesign in Dublin is "in due course." To add to the frustration, the report also demonstrates how massively successful the completed phases have been. www.nationaltransport.ie/wp-content/u... See p.14

My proposed amendments to the Dunsink Urban Area Plan include Luas phasing Tolka flood risks water quality and building materials dezoning wetland motorway noise land contamination construction traffic diversity of housing units Dunsink Observatory and light pollution davidhealy.com?p=2024

I have given feedback to Safer Schools proposals in Howth and Sutton from @fingal.ie's Active Travel team. My observations are at www.davidhealy.com; the consultations are open until midnight at www.consult.fingal.ie.

RIP Frank McDonald "Over a reporting career lasting some 50 years, he campaigned for better urban planning and design, and against the sort of corruption that can attend the nexus where swashbuckling construction comes into contact with politics and public administration."

To raise public transport fares by 15% in the middle of a cost of living crisis is a slap in the face to these commuters, who see the hundreds of millions that Government has spent protecting some sectors from inflation costs, yet they are expected to pay out more, every day, every journey.

ACP has granted permission for a replacement Deer Park Hotel, following appeals. I'm glad that what looks to me like a credible sustainability analysis of the demolition proposal was done and that the Board again refused the additional road proposed. davidhealy.com?p=2007 davidhealy.com?p=1834

Thanks @michaellanigan.bsky.social for covering this. Given the political consensus on the need to incentivise landowners to build the planning permissions they hold, I hope the Government will act on this loophole. davidhealy.com?p=1999

Unbearable heat in France: Dún Laoghaire councillor Conor Dowling cut short his family holiday after temperatures topped 40°C... jrnl.ie/7092906

Thanks @michaellanigan.bsky.social for covering this. Given the political consensus on the need to incentivise landowners to build the planning permissions they hold, I hope the Government will act on this loophole. davidhealy.com?p=1999

Environmental groups take challenge to legal costs caps in successful cases New costs rules breach Irish and EU law, @antaisce.bsky.social and Friends of the Irish Environment say @fploguellp.bsky.social acting for the applicants www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/co...

Our heatwaves will get hotter and hotter and hotter until we get to global net zero greenhouse gas emissions and so stabilise the climate. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

250 years of burning fossil fuels fuelled a record shattering humid heatwave in Eastern North America for the 250th anniversary celebrations on 4th of July. Turning any outdoor activities into a dangerous health risk. - @wwattribution.bsky.social www.worldweatherattribution.org/fossil-fuels...

If I read one more reference to 'gold plating' of EU law in Ireland....Can anyone show me the evidence? Should we look to the over half our rivers and lakes polluted? The trend which is getting worse? The 25% of our most pristine waterbodies now lost? A 🧵 www.irishtimes.com/ireland/hous...

We regret that our event on Extreme Heat: Improving governance and strengthening action around the world has been cancelled due to the red extreme heat warning issued by the UK Met Office. Our apologies to everyone who was planning to attend the event.

Much of Europe is sweating in an exceptional heat wave. Heat in Europe has increased 4 times more than in other mid-latitude areas, which has been linked to the Atlantic #coldblob in several studies. #AMOC Slide from a talk I'm about the present at London Climate Action Week #LCAW2026. 1/

Thanks to Isobel Ryan of Baldoyle Wild Towns for a wonderful guided tour of the wildflowers of the Baldoyle Portmarnock Greenway, including orchids and viper’s bugloss.

Well done to Abbey Park and District for their work in having a planning decision taken by An Bord Pleanála in breach of the Fingal Development Plan remitted to An Coimisiún Pleanála. Their legal challenge was successful in front of Holland J in the High Court. davidhealy.com?p=1983

Following the excellent training by Leave No Trace on North Bull Island last week, I'm continuing to try to get @fingal.ie to adjust our beach management on the beautiful Burrow Beach to protect and restore the sand dunes. Details and photos, good and bad: davidhealy.com?p=1978

The Liffey is an icon of Dublin, but it’s also a dividing line. It divides the north from the south. There’s politicians in this election who want to further that division. But I don’t think that’s what we are about. When you’re on the Liffey you can see clearly that we are one city and one river.

The Land Development Agency is consulting on their proposals for Stapolin Square on the Baldoyle side of Clongriffin Station. davidhealy.com?p=1963

My response to @fingal.ie's consultation on car parking charges on Harbour Road, Howth: *integrate with the Harbour *cover the areas affected by parking issues *address safety issues and improve conditions for people walking in Howth. Details and a link to the consultation: davidhealy.com?p=1959

Case taken by @clientearth.bsky.social @foeireland.bsky.social & Friends of the Irish Environment against @utilityregcru.bsky.social www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2026...

Rezoning greenbelt land, rather than zoning a brownfield site and right beside a train station, is bad planning with negative consequences for all of us. @fingal.ie executive and a majority of councillors are getting it wrong. Thanks @michaellanigan.bsky.social for this detailed coverage.

In response to proposals to rezone green belt land, I have proposed instead changing the zoning of brownfield and disused sites currently zoned for employment to mixed use or residential. The zoning proposals will be discussed by the Council on Monday. davidhealy.com?p=1943

Congratulations to ace environmental lawyer Fred Logue on another great victory over the powers of darkness …

Today is your last chance to respond to the College Green Consultation!! You have until midnight tonight to add your support for this vital public realm project engage.dublincity.ie/en-IE/projec...

Thanks to Claire Byrne of Newstalk for our discussion of parking cash out law, where employers who offer car parking must offer a cash alternative. Giving people this option leads to a 30% shift away from driving to work. Podcast: pca.st/episode/c5d0... More info: shoup.bol.ucla.edu/Parking%20Ca...

An appalling proposal is hidden at the end of the Government’s Bill on the airport cap; it would exclude decisions under the legislation from the current obligation on almost all public bodies to consider their climate impact and to be consistent with climate objectives.

Thanks to my fellow councillors for agreeing unanimously that @fingal.ie should stop using X, especially mayor Tom O’Leary for taking the suspension of standing orders and John Smith for suggesting that approach.

As developer plans a new community with hundreds of drive-up homes, a councillor suggests another vision. “It’s not that the people who live there don’t have cars,” he says. “It’s that the neighbourhood is not a car park, and the car parking is on the edge.”

My submission on the application for 1350 housing units at Belcamp calls for design of a safe walkable neighbourhood, with shops and childcare, and good quality public transport including a reservation for light rail. davidhealy.com?p=1926

John Gibbons, author of The Lie of the Land: A Game Plan for Ireland in the Climate Crisis, will speak at a public meeting in the Marine Hotel, Sutton at 7.30pm on Wednesday 4th February.

My article online this week quoting @davidhealy.bsky.social: dublinpeople.com/news/northsi...

Construction generates between 10 and 20 per cent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, but cities can slash their climate impact by designing buildings in a more efficient way

A strange car parking rule is in @fingal.ie bye-laws which discriminates against people living in apartments rather than houses, not in any way connected to whether they have access to off-street parking. We've agreed to start the process of changing it. www.dublininquirer.com/apartment-dw...

@nearfm.ie @davidhealy.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSXN...

@darrenjprior.bsky.social @nearfm.ie @davidhealy.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TiG...

The Active Travel Unit of @fingal.ie runs “Second Spin”, in conjunction with @rediscoveryctr.bsky.social. The scheme provides free, upcycled bikes to teenagers who have had theirs stolen. To apply: www.fingal.ie/news/fingal-...

If we're to turn the tide on nature loss, we're going to need a government that treats it with the level of priority that was given to holding on to the nitrates derogation www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...

www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/co...

Ireland's energy regulator finally published its data centre connection policy. It facilitates a new era of fossil growth to facilitate this enormous energy user. hannahdaly.ie/2025-12-12-C...