The Wild Ireland Tour will take Bella and I through some of the most special landscapes and wildlife sites in north-western Europe, and all of them on the island of Ireland. Planning the route for the tour was the easy part as I decided early on to keep to the most coastal route. However, trying to decide on which sites to visit and who to meet along the way proved more difficult.

When looking at where the route takes us I realise that it presented an embarrassment of riches. There is a fabulous diversity of wildlife sites right around the coast, each with its unique features. And many excellent conservationists, scientists and local communities who are doing tremendous work to help protect wildlife. So even early on in the planning for the tour, it was an encouraging realisation to make that there is a lot happening out there. Continue reading Planning the route →

It was in the depths of winter when I reflected on what I wanted to achieve with my cycling in 2014. 2012 and 2013 were both fairly aimless years for me; cycling 4 or 5 days per week with a long club spin or sportive on the weekend, and a winter  interrupted by surgery. Plenty of cycling but nothing really structured and no overall goals. So 2014 was going to be different. I was going to set myself a challenge to work towards.

Why I decided on the challenge to cycle around the entire island of Ireland, I’m not quite sure. Probably because it is  just about do-able provided I got the training in. And rather than going off to cycle in exotic places, I felt there was plenty to explore around the coast of Ireland. Continue reading The cycling challenge →

I’m a conservationists. Being a conservationist is not the easiest job in the world. Not because the weight of the world is on my shoulders, angst ridden over how I and the rest of humanity is destroying the planet. No, but because conservation is rarely understood and conservationists are all pigeonholed as a stereotype. Even my daughter prepared conversation topics about her ‘Engineer’ father for her Leaving Certificate oral exams, as trying to explain what a conservationists does in Irish and French (or in English for that matter) was too tall an order.

Continue reading Conserve the Conservationists! →