{"id":34451,"date":"2025-08-31T10:15:19","date_gmt":"2025-08-31T10:15:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/34451\/"},"modified":"2025-08-31T10:15:19","modified_gmt":"2025-08-31T10:15:19","slug":"nature-offers-something-to-celebrate-at-ecological-disaster-site-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/34451\/","title":{"rendered":"Nature offers something to celebrate at \u2018ecological disaster\u2019 site \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lady\u2019s Island Lake has made the headlines for all the wrong reasons lately with media reports highlighting the \u201cecological disaster\u201d unfolding at the Co Wexford<\/a> lagoon. <\/p>\n

An Environmental Protection Agency<\/a> study found agricultural run-off from surrounding land had raised the saltwater lake\u2019s nutrient levels to multiples of the norm. <\/p>\n

This has caused algae to bloom, giving the lake a green hue and blocking light which has led to plants and fish dying at this designated Special Area of Conservation.<\/p>\n

\"Lady’sLady\u2019s Island Lake, which would normally register as blue like the sea at the bottom of the image, registers as completely green due to the algal bloom. Image: Google Maps <\/p>\n

With the annual pilgrimage taking place at Our Lady\u2019s Island at present, there was a bit of positive news this week for the lake \u2013 a Hail Mary, if you will. <\/p>\n

Birdwatch Ireland<\/a> reported a good breeding season for the roseate, sandwich, common and Arctic terns that continue to flock to the lake\u2019s islands, despite the gloom and bloom. <\/p>\n

However, they were this year joined by little terns, meaning the lake is, according to the conservation group, <\/b>\u201cthe only place in Europe\u201d where the five species are successfully nesting together.<\/p>\n

Niall Hatch, Birdwatch Ireland\u2019s aptly named head of communications, said this was \u201ccertainly something to be celebrated\u201d given the lake\u2019s well-publicised issues. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason [the pollution] hasn\u2019t impacted the terns is because they are nesting on the islands for security but fishing out at sea for food.\u201d <\/p>\n

There has been much talk about multi-agency approaches to restoring Lady\u2019s Island Lake<\/a>. Nature is trying to do its part, so here\u2019s hoping the State can reverse a decline that has been happening in plain view for decades. <\/p>\n

\u2018Tyrant rooster\u2019 among those recalled on pet condolence website<\/p>\n

During the Covid-19<\/a> pandemic, Mick Hanly took note of how many people used and mentioned the RIP.ie condolence website, now owned by The Irish Times group. <\/p>\n

He wondered if there would be a market for a similar offering for pets and checked to see if the domain name \u201crest easy friend\u201d was available. To his surprise, it was, but that was as far as things went then. <\/p>\n

After enjoying his retirement from An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na<\/a> for another few years, the Clonakilty, Co Cork<\/a> resident decided he was ready to take on a \u201cproject\u201d and was reminded of his idea last year when someone stated \u201crest easy friend\u201d again. <\/p>\n

\"MickMick Hanly’s website resteasyfriend.com allows bereaved pet owners to post tributes about their late animals <\/p>\n

He registered resteasyfriend.com, figured out what he wanted to offer, and found a web designer \u201cas invested as I was\u201d in the notion. The website allows users, for a \u20ac25 fee, to put up a post and a photograph of their late pet that others can view and leave messages of condolence on. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou go through a lot when a pet passes on,\u201d says Hanly, adding that different pets have been \u201cbookmarks of periods\u201d in his own life. \u201cPeople with pets get it, others don\u2019t always.\u201d <\/p>\n

The service now has nearly 100 posts, which largely relate to dogs and cats, but there\u2019s a wide range of others including a donkey, a possum, a canary, a parrot, a snake and a llama. <\/p>\n

One post remembers Cluck Norris, whose owner says he \u201cwasn\u2019t just a rooster, he was a damn tyrant\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"AA post on resteastfriend.com remembers rooster Cluck Norris as a ‘feathered warlord who ruled the yard and stole our hearts’. Photograph: resteastfriend.com <\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t think I\u2019d care, but it\u2019s too quiet now. I catch myself listening for that God-awful scream every morning. Nasty bird. Brave heart. Rest easy, Cluck Norris,\u201d the tribute states. <\/p>\n

Hometown wrestling \u2018heel\u2019 takes aim at local heroes<\/p>\n

Dublin-raised wrestler Becky Lynch, aka Rebecca Quin, got WWE\u2019s<\/a> SmackDown event under way at the 3Arena<\/a> last weekend, entering the ring to a rapturous reception. <\/p>\n

After welcoming the audience to the \u201cfirst ever televised WWE event live from Dublin, Ireland\u201d, Lynch leaned into her \u2018heel\u2019 persona, a baddy in the wrestling world, complaining live on Netflix<\/a> about how little respect she gets in Ireland. <\/p>\n

\u201cI shouldn\u2019t even have to tell you that I am your hero because that\u2019s not how heroing works, but here we are.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"BeckyBecky Lynch during last weekend’s WWE SmackDown event at the 3Arena in Dublin. Photograph: Netflix <\/p>\n

Chants of \u2018Who are ya?\u2019 spewed from the crowd as she detailed a CV that has made her \u201cthe single greatest female\u201d wrestler of all time. Undeterred, Lynch said in addition to winning wrestling\u2019s grand slam, she\u2019s also had a New York Times<\/a> bestseller. <\/p>\n

\u201cDid James Joyce<\/a> or Oscar Wilde<\/a> have a New York Times bestseller?\u201d she asked. \u201cNo they didn\u2019t. Losers.\u201d <\/p>\n

Lynch criticised the fact her \u201cgroundbreaking face\u201d was not among those lionised in Dublin Airport.<\/p>\n

\"BeckyBecky Lynch enters the ring during Night One of WrestleMania 40 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Photograph: WWE\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

\u201cNo, there\u2019s rugby players I\u2019ve never heard of and I assume nobody else has,\u201d she went on. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe media will write opinion pieces about Katie Taylor<\/a> …\u201d <\/p>\n

She was cut off by \u2018Kay-T-Tay-Lor\u2019 chants from the crowd. <\/p>\n

\u201cAll right, fine, she\u2019s a good boxer but can she cut a promo?\u201d <\/p>\n

Taylor has tended to let her fists rather than mouth do the talking during her career. But the boxer, reportedly pondering retirement after defeating Amanda Serrano in July, also live on Netflix, took notice of Lynch\u2019s spiel, posting a clip of it on her Instagram account along with a \u2018thinking face\u2019 emoji. She also tagged Lynch and three WWE accounts. <\/p>\n

Might there be another way for the Bray woman to have the big-ticket Dublin fight that has been mooted for so long?<\/p>\n

Will solution to festival \u2018pet peeve\u2019 become a \u2018must have\u2019?<\/p>\n

Two decades on from its humble beginnings as a one-day \u2018boutique\u2019 festival with capacity for 15,000 people, an 80,000-strong crowd has gathered in Stradbally, Co Laois<\/a> this weekend for the latest edition of Electric Picnic<\/a>. <\/p>\n

While a larger attendance yields more acts and amenities for attendees, it also means finding friends after food or toilet breaks, or when a mobile phone dies, is a bigger challenge. <\/p>\n

\"TheThe Wolfe Tones Play the Main stage on the final day of Electric Picnic 2024 in Stradbally, Co Laois. Photograph: Alan Betson <\/p>\n

Step forward Three Ireland<\/a> with a would-be solution to \u201cone of the biggest pet peeves\u201d at music festivals. The telecoms firm is trialling \u201cnew wearable tech\u201d this weekend in \u201can Irish festival first\u201d with a view to making sure a \u201conce in a lifetime moment\u201d is not spoiled by someone losing their friends. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Three Friend Finder, powered by Totem Labs, connects you to your friends who are also wearing the device using GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) by guiding you to their location using a ring of pulsing lights and without the need for any mobile phone service, wifi or Bluetooth.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"TheThe Three Friend Finder, powered by Totem Labs, uses GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) to guide users to their location without the need for mobile phone service, wifi or Bluetooth. Photograph: Three Ireland <\/p>\n

The guinea pigs, or \u201clucky owners of the device\u201d as Three calls them, will, for their troubles, also be \u201cguided to some secret gigs and experiences\u201d over the weekend.<\/p>\n

While tents, toilet roll and deodorant have long been festival staples, Three Ireland ponders if these devices could become \u201cthe must-have\u201d for next year\u2019s festival season. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lady\u2019s Island Lake has made the headlines for all the wrong reasons lately with media reports highlighting the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34452,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[26778,25633,64,18,11985,117,11394,19,17,16002,26779,127,5282,26780,2451,7536],"class_list":{"0":"post-34451","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-3arena","9":"tag-birdwatch-ireland","10":"tag-covid-19","11":"tag-eire","12":"tag-electric-picnic","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-environmental-protection-agency-epa","15":"tag-ie","16":"tag-ireland","17":"tag-james-joyce","18":"tag-katie-taylor","19":"tag-netflix","20":"tag-new-york-times","21":"tag-three","22":"tag-wexford","23":"tag-wwe"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34451\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}