Reflect Photography

This sounds interesting!
A striking new exhibition by Roscommon based photographer Laura Jean Zito is on display now in The Courtyard Gallery at Brambles Café, National Museum of Ireland - Country Life, Turlough Park, Co. Mayo.
The exhibition is entitled By Hand and explores Irish country life in photographs taken over three decades.

Events | What's On | Country Life | National Museum Of Ireland Mayo Discover events at Museum of Country Life - Turlough Park. Find activities for kids. Talks, tours & classes for adults. Free student & teacher resources.

Happy New Year!

THIS IS IMPORTANT: I received this email today from BirdWatch Ireland. They need our help to save our birds and insects

Regular readers of eWings will know that BirdWatch Ireland is extremely concerned about some of the proposals contained in the current Heritage Bill, and specifically about the provisions in Section 8 which would permit the burning of scrub during March and the cutting of hedges during August each year. The law at present prevents cutting and burning during the period from 1st March to 31st August.

The bill, which flies in the face of scientific evidence regarding the nesting periods of several threatened bird species, has already passed the Seanad stage, and this week it came before the Dáil for the first time. If it becomes law, it will have a devastating effect on some of our most vulnerable birds. These include the Curlew, which begins nesting in March, and the Yellowhammer, which nests into August. Pollinating insects, already struggling across the country, will also be badly hit. The next generation deserves an environment that they can be proud of, not regressive action which rows back on the protections afforded to biodiversity.

THIS IS WHERE YOU COME IN - If you feel as seriously concerned about these proposed changes as we do, please take action. Write to our Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Heather Humphreys TD, who is the architect of the bill, to demand that she reverse her plans to devastate our natural heritage. Write to each of your local TDs, telling them that you expect them to vote against the Heritage Bill in the Dáil. Please do not be fooled, as has been claimed, that the bill is necessary for reasons of road safety: current legislation already makes full provision for cutting roadside hedges at any time of year where road safety is at issue, and this bill will not change a single thing in this regard.

If you need inspiration, please have a look at the powerful letter sent this week to the minister and to all TDs from the pupils of St. Colman's Secondary School in Midleton, Co. Cork, informing them that 515 students had signed a petition against the Heritage Bill.