The EPA’s latest figures show a 6.8% reduction in Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions, a performance described by the organisation’s director general, Laura Burke, as the most positive message the EPA has delivered since her appointment back in 2011.

Ms Burke pointed out that Ireland’s emissions are at their lowest point in 30 years, stating: “The combination of climate policy and decarbonisation measures, regulation, economics, and action by individuals and communities is working.”

That is not to say that everything is on track.

Ireland remains short of its targets at both national and at EU levels.

The EPA pointed out, for instance, that greenhouse gas emissions in 2023 were only 10% below 2005 levels, and far behind Ireland’s EU Effort Sharing Regulation commitment — which is 42% by 2030.

However, that does not invalidate the positivity in the EPA’s overall message — that emissions are being lowered.

This is important because it shows actions by both organisations and individuals is working.

It is particularly necessary to point out that individual action has an impact, because news in this area is often so negative it has the potential to make people throw their hands up in despair.

This, in turn, leads to a delicate balancing act. People must be made aware of the size of the challenge posed by the climate crisis and their individual responsibilities in tackling that crisis, yet the size of the crisis can be overpowering.

As a result, people must also be informed of the positive results of taking those responsibilities seriously — but without sugaring the pill when it comes to further action.

Ms Burke made that very point this week, saying: “We have much more work to do. There is no room for complacency, but across every sector, we are seeing green shoots that are improving people’s quality of life. Ireland is going to keep going green.”

Much work done, much more to do.

Rory Gallagher’s guitar should be in Cork

The musical instrument used by the man once called the greatest guitarist in the world is up for sale.

Rory Gallagher’s 1961 Fender Stratocaster is to be auctioned at Bonham’s in London this October. The guitar, which he bought as a 15-year-old for £100 on hire purchase from Crowley’s Music Shop in Cork, is being sold by his brother Dónal. Estimates of the price range from £700,000 to £1m (€1.18m), huge sums for a guitar which was bought in 1963.

Over the course of a lengthy career, Gallagher attracted plaudits all over the world for his dazzling virtuosity, and his well-worn guitar was often name-checked in those compliments. For instance, Brian May, the Queen guitarist, once said: “He was one of a very few people at that time who could make his guitar do anything, it seemed, it just seemed to be magic. I remember looking at this battered Stratocaster and thinking: ‘How does that come out of there? How does he do that?’ ”

The news has led to calls for the instrument to be bought and kept in Cork, which is synonymous with the guitarist. Lord Mayor Dan Boyle said: “It would be, and should be, pride of place here.” He added that he hoped whoever acquired the guitar would make it available publicly in Cork.

The force of this argument derives in large part from Gallagher’s dedication to his craft. His mastery of musical technique was so commanding that it led to the complete respect of his peers, but that mastery was synonymous with his trusty 1961 Stratocaster. Rarely has a musician’s reputation been centred on one particular instrument.

As a symbol of commitment to one’s calling, it could hardly be bettered, and there is surely an onus on the State itself to seek to acquire this musical instrument and to make it accessible to the public. It would be appropriate to recognise Gallagher’s status as an international music star and it would also be a visible manifestation of what dedication means and what application can accomplish.

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New York discovers wheelie bins

In Ireland, we are accustomed to being presented with examples of efficiency and accomplishment from overseas.

The administration of municipal areas is a reliable source of comparisons which often show Irish towns and cities in an unflattering light. Cities from Spain to Singapore are cited as more advanced and progressive in all their quotidian activities.

Hence the surprise this week at the revelation that New York City is heralding a ‘trash revolution’ by introducing... wheelie bins.

The city’s mayor, Eric Adams, was filmed giving a demonstration of how to operate a wheelie bin — i.e. wheeling it along, lifting the lid, and inserting a rubbish bag — as though it were as complicated as landing a helicopter.

It is 35 years since Ireland introduced wheelie bins for general use, and most of us got the hang of it fairly quickly. New York’s late adoption of this common technology shows that faraway hills may be green, but their inhabitants may not
always be quite as advanced as their counterparts across the pond.