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Joint Research Centre
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Science Flash For You - Ireland
Ireland and the European Commission's science and knowledge service
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News
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Applications for asylum on the rise in Ireland
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The number of first time applications for asylum has been rising in Ireland since 2016, according to the recently published JRC Atlas of Migration. There were 4,740 applications in 2019, more than double compared to 2016, when there were 2,235. More than half of the decisions on asylum applications taken by Irish authorities were positive in 2019, while three years before almost 8 out of 10 were rejected.
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The research suggests that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the government responses to it could reshape migratory movements, shift migration routes and alter the composition of migrant populations worldwide. The Atlas is published by the JRC Knowledge Centre for Migration and Demography. It is an online reference tool guiding policy-makers, practitioners and the general public through the complexities of migration and demography. It brings together indicators related to migration, asylum, integration, demography, and development from several international data sources.
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Fossil CO2 emissions substantially decrease in Ireland
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Fossil CO2 emissions decreased by four percent in Ireland in 2019, according to the recent JRC report called EDGAR. In the power industry, emissions dropped by twelve percent compared to the previous year, while in the buildings sector the cut was three percent. Over the last 15 years, CO2 emissions in the country have fallen by 23 percent.
Between 2018 and 2019, fossil CO2 emissions grew in China and India, while the sharpest decrease worldwide was registered in the European Union, with -3,8 percent.
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Emissions in the EU have fallen by 22,2 percent between 2005 and now. Estimates for the COVID-19 pandemic period show a very steep decline in global energy demand, which has had a big impact on lowering emissions. EDGAR stands for Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research, and provides data on fossil CO2 emissions from 1970 to 2019 for all countries in the world. This report contributes to the Paris Agreement process to fight climate change with an independent and quantitative view of global fossil CO2 emissions.
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The JRC helped Irish authorities to manage floods in Clare, Galway and Cork Counties
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In 2020, Ireland has requested the support of the Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS) three times for flood events in Clare, Galway and Cork Counties.
The Irish National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management triggered the Rapid Mapping service in February for mapping the spatial extent of flooding in the county of Clare where water levels of Shannon and Fergus rivers had risen due to a series of Atlantic storms.
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In total 14 flood maps over 9 areas were published over a period of 10 days, providing detailed information on the extent and the grading of the flood event impacts. CEMS was also activated in September when heavy rainfall overnight caused severe flooding in Clifden and in part of County Galway, and in Cork city centre following high tide in October, when around 100 buildings and dozens of parked cars have been damaged by flooding. CEMS is one of the six core services of the EU’s Earth observation programme Copernicus. It provides geo-information and on-demand mapping services derived mostly from satellite images to support actors involved in disaster management. The JRC is responsible for CEMS and implements a part of it in collaboration with European industry and academia.
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Illegal agricultural burning diminishes in Ireland
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During 2019 approximately 3,800 hectares of land was affected by fire in Ireland. The worst event took place in April in County Donegal. The recently released JRC report on Forest Fires also highlights a continued reduction in illegal agricultural burning observed during 2019 fire season.
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The Fire Improvement Plan of Coillte, the Irish State Forestry Board, continued over the year and included improved equipment, training and procedures. European projects like European Innovation Projects (EIP) and LIFE located in main fire risk mountain areas in Wicklow, Kerry, Inishowen, Blackstairs and Hen Harrier delivered fire management modules and hosted events to increase the awareness of fire risks to landowners and improve land management activities. According to the 20th edition of the European Commission's Annual Report on Forest Fires in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, 2019 was possibly the worst-ever year for forest fires around the world. Over 400,000 hectares of Europe’s natural land burned and many protected areas were affected by wildfires. The JRC's Copernicus Rapid Mapping Service was activated 35 times to help countries respond to wildfires, the most activations in any single year. The JRC runs the European Forest Fires Information System (EFFIS) under Copernicus, the EU’s earth observation program.
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The Irish Fishing Fleet's economic performance improves
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Lower fuel costs, higher average fish prices for some species, and the impact of capacity/effort reduction were the main driving forces behind an overall improvement in the economic performance of the Irish fleet around 2018, according to the recently released JRC Annual Economic Report on the EU Fishing Fleet 2020.
A support scheme was introduced in Ireland to reduce the volume of seafood entering the market which has been depressed by the COVID-19 pandemic, while at the same time keeping an adequate number of vessels fishing to maintain food supply.
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COVID-19 severely affected the EU fishing fleets but their average profits are predicted to have remained positive in 2020. The analysis indicates that the EU fishing fleet was highly profitable in 2018, despite a 14% reduction since 2017. The results remain at historically high levels, with an overall gross profit of EUR 1.8 billion. The performance of the fleet rebounded in 2019, to then fall back to the 2018 levels in 2020, largely due to the COVID-19 outbreak, with a 17% decrease in gross profits.
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Ireland’s good practice to support evidence informed policymaking
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Ireland actively participated in JRC's recent debates between scientists and policy makers to collectively learn more about the diverse landscape of science for policy systems across Europe.
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As currently illustrated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the substantial involvement of science in informing policy responses, robust and better connected science for policy eco-systems in Europe are essential for creating better prepared and resilient societies and institutions across all governance levels in Europe. Mark Ferguson, Chief Scientific Adviser to the Irish Government, shared his vast experience in advising the national government during a dedicated JRC workshop with colleagues from across Europe. He was not the only expert bringing Irish good practice into the debate, which included input from science advisors to national academies, public research institutes, and citizen science. Brian Norton, Policy and International Relations Secretary of the Royal Irish Academy, presented his organisation's activity in a workshop on the role of academies of science in science advisory ecosystems.
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