News and Events
Niamh Guiry, PhD Researcher, presents at Environmental Protection Agency and Irish Centre for European Law (ICEL) Environmental Law Enforcement Conference
On 16th November 2023, Niamh Guiry, PhD Researcher at the School of Law, presented at the annual Environmental Protection Agency and Irish Centre for European Law (ICEL) Environmental Law Enforcement Conference at Dublin Castle.
Niamh's presentation ‘The Persistent Enforcement Challenges of Wildlife Crime in Ireland’ reflected on recent national wildlife crime reforms, including the 1st Strategic Plan for the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS). It considered whether these developments could potentially indicate a turning point for wildlife crime in Ireland or if they are falling short of the sustained political attention, long-term prioritisation, and systemic action that is required to effectively address wildlife crime enforcement challenges.
Some identified gaps in the Strategic Plan include the absence of:
- Explicit cross-border wildlife crime considerations between the Republic and Northern Ireland.
- Acknowledgement of the link between organised crime and wildlife crime.
- Annual reporting obligations on the State and relevant bodies to identify regional and national wildlife crime trends.
Niamh’s PhD research is supervised by Professor Owen McIntyre and Dr Dug Cubie and is funded by the EPA through the Irish Research Council.
