Geography

Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic. It is separated from United Kingdom to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George’s Channel. Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island on Earth. Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland, which covers five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. The total area of Ireland is 84,421 Sq.Km. out of which, the Republic of Ireland covers 70,273 Sq.Km. and the rest belongs to Northern Ireland, which is a British territory. Ireland is located in the north-west of Europe, between latitudes 51° and 56° N, and longitudes 11° and 5° W. It is separated from United Kingdom by the Irish Sea and the North Channel. To the west is the northern Atlantic Ocean, and to the south is the Celtic Sea, which lies between Ireland and Brittany in France. Geographically, Ireland comprises of a central plain surrounded by low-lying mountains.

Population and land use

The population of Ireland was 4.9 Million in mid-2019 as per the Population Reference Bureau. The density of the population is 72 inhabitants per Sq.Km. Ireland ranks 124^th among the most populous countries of the world and holds 0.06% of the total world population. Along with the local population, Ireland comprises of migrants from other European nations (mainly Poland), Africa, and Asia. Migrants account for over 20% of the total population of the Ireland. The total area of Ireland is 7.03 Mha, out of which 6.9 Mha is the land area. The agricultural sector is 4.45 Mha, and 0.75 forms the forest area. 

Climate and rainfall

The climate is typically temperate. This is a result of the moist winds which arrive from the southwestern Atlantic. It rains throughout the year but is usually light, particularly in the east. The west tends to get more rain on an average and attracts Atlantic storms, especially during autumn and winter. Munster, in the south, records the least snow, whereas Ulster, in the north, records the most. Inland areas are warmer in summer and colder in winter. Usually, around 40 days of the year are below freezing 0°C (32 °F) in inland areas compared to 10 days in the coastal regions. Temperatures fall as low as '17.2°C (1°F) in County Mayo in December. The sunniest months are May and June when there is sunshine for an average duration of 5.5 and 6.5 hours a day. The average annual precipitation varies from about 760 mm in the east to more than 2,533 mm in the western areas. Snow is infrequent except in the mountains, and prolonged or severe snowstorms are rare.

Food and agriculture

The mainstay of Ireland’s economy used to be agriculture.  But, now, only 8% of the Irish population is employed in agriculture. The climate is conducive to the cultivation of food products.  Ireland produces wheat, oats, barley, sugarbeet, potatoes, and vegetables. However, Ireland’s rich grasslands are used as pasture or for growing hay as cattle feed and livestock is common among farmers.  The total arable land in Ireland is 1.06 Mha.

Irrigation and drainage

The irrigation schemes in Ireland are a joint venture between the Agriculture Sector Development Programme (ASDP) supported by Irish Aid and other development partners and farmers’ contributions. The total irrigated area is 0,1 Mha. The rivers that rise on the mountains near the coastal areas are short and the inland streams flow slowly, through marshes and lakes, and enter the sea long distances away from their sources.  River Shannon rises in the plateau near Sligo Bay and flows south-southwestward for 260 Km, reaching the tidewater level at Limerick and draining a wide area of the central lowland on its way. Other major inland rivers are the Slaney, Liffey, and Boyne in the east; the Nore, Barrow, and Suir in the southeast; the Backwater, Lee, and Bandon in the south; and the Clare and the Moy in the west. Because of the porosity of the limestone, an underground drainage system has developed, feeding the interlacing surface network of rivers and lakes. The government has implemented major arterial drainage projects, preventing flooding—and making more land available for cultivation—by improving the flow of water in the rivers and thereby lowering the levels of lakes. There are state-aided farm-drainage schemes designed to bring wasteland and marginal land into production.

Water resources management

There is no shortage of water resources in Ireland. Total renewable water resources are 53 Km³ per year. 82% of drinking water supplies in Ireland is sourced from surface water (i.e., rivers and lakes) and 18% coming from groundwater – 10.5% from groundwater and 7.6% from springs. Ireland has 46 catchment areas from 4829 waterbodies. According to a 2015 report, the compliance of Ireland concerning the management of water resources, in line with European Union standards are: (i) rivers – 57%; (ii) lakes – 46%; (iii) coastal waters – 79%; and, (iv) groundwater bodies – 91%.

Water policies

Important legislations of Ireland concerning its water resources include: (i) The Water Framework Directive, Directive 2000/60/EC, adopted in 2000 as a single piece of legislation covering rivers, lakes, groundwater, and transitional (estuarine) and coastal waters including heavily modified and artificial water bodies. Its objectives are to prevent further deterioration of and to protect, enhance and restore the status of all bodies of water to achieve at least good status; (ii) The Water Policy Regulations (S.I. No. 722 of 2003), Surface Waters Regulations (S.I. No. 272 of 2009) and Groundwater Regulations (S.I. No. 9 of 2010) govern the shape of the WFD characterization, monitoring, and status assessment programs in terms of assigning responsibilities for the monitoring different water categories, determining the quality elements and undertaking the characterization and classification assessments; (iii) The Surface Waters  Regulations instituting wide-ranging sets of environmental standards for Irish surface waters. The Groundwater Regulations establish environmental objectives to be achieved in groundwater bodies and include groundwater quality standards and threshold values for the classification of groundwater and the protection of groundwater against pollution and deterioration in groundwater quality.

ICID and National Committee

Ireland became a member of the ICID in 1978 and formed  Irish National Committee (IRCID). Presently, Dr. Oliver Nichoslon is Chairman of the Irish National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage (IRCID) and can be contacted at oliver.nicholson@opw.ie