From RTE News - Monday 14th September

The President of An Taisce has said Ireland risks destroying its natural environment unless it avoids another property boom.

Professor John Sweeney also said another such period would burden future generations with debt. Mr Sweeney made his comments in advance of the international gathering of national trusts, which started in Dublin this morning.

The conference of national trusts will hear papers from 21 nations as diverse as Albania and Zimbabwe. Professor Sweeney claimed Ireland's economic crisis presents an important opportunity to revise our national thinking, particularly in terms of how Ireland deals with climate change.

He said failure would have huge cost implications.

He believes Ireland needs to be retro-fitting older buildings to meet modern needs rather than building new ones. http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0914/environment.html