Introduction to Ireland is a fascinating subject that encapsulates all that is beautiful about the Emerald Isle. Ireland, situated in the North Atlantic, is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island globally. Historically, Irish culture has played a significant role in music, literature, and folklore. Ireland is recognized worldwide for its whiskey, beer, and distinctive cuisine. The country boasts of an excellent infrastructure, with several attractions such as breathtaking landscapes, ancient monuments, and urban cities. As a country with a rich history, Ireland is an enchanting place to visit, and tourism is a key driving factor in its economy. Visitors flock the country to explore its many attractions such as the scenic Cliffs of Moher, the awe-inspiring Giant's Causeway, and the historic Trinity College. The Irish are also known for their renowned hospitality and warmth towards tourists. Visitors can enjoy traditional Irish music sessions, explore the many rural towns, and enjoy the local cuisine. In conclusion, an introduction to Ireland is a fantastic opportunity to learn and explore one of the world's hidden treasures.

The rapid emergence of China as a major industrial power poses a complex challenge for global resource markets. Backed by the Chinese government, Chinese companies have been acquiring equity stakes in natural resource companies, extending loans to mining and petroleum investors, and writing long-term procurement contracts for oil and minerals. These activities have aroused concern that China might be "locking up" natural resource supplies, gaining "preferential access" to available output, and extending "control" over the world's extractive industries. On the demand side, Chinese appetite for vast amounts of energy and minerals puts tremendous strain on the international supply system. On the supply side, Chinese efforts to procure raw materials can either exacerbate or help solve the problems of high demand. Evidence from the 16 largest Chinese natural resource procurement arrangements shows that Chinese efforts—like Japanese deployments of capital and purchase agreements in the late 1970s through the 1980s—fall predominantly into categories that help expand, diversify, and make more competitive the global supplier system. Investigation of smaller projects indicates the 16 largest do not suffer from selection bias. However, Chinese attempts to exercise control over mining of rare earth elements may constitute a significant exception. The investigative focus of this analysis is deliberately narrow and precise, assessing the impact of Chinese resource procurement on the structure of the global supply base. The broader policy discussion in the concluding chapter raises other separate important issues, including the impact of Chinese resource procurement on rogue states, on authoritarian leadership, on civil wars, on corrupt payments and the deterioration of governance standards, and on environmental damage. Such effects may make patterns of Chinese resource procurement objectionable, on grounds quite apart from the debate about possible "control" of access on the part of China and Chinese companies.

Belgium has made progress in decoupling several environmental pressures from economic growth, in improving wastewater treatment and in expanding protected areas. Regions have achieved high levels of recovery and recycling, and have pioneered circular economy policies. However, further efforts are needed to progress towards carbon neutrality, reduce air and water pollution, reverse biodiversity loss and consolidate results of circular economy initiatives.

The environmental humanities are one of the most exciting and rapidly expanding areas of interdisciplinary study, and this collection of essays is a pioneering attempt to apply these approaches to the study of nineteenth-century Ireland. By bringing together historians, geographers and literary scholars, new insights are offered into familiar subjects and unfamiliar subjects are brought out into the light. Essays re-considering O'Connellism, Lord Palmerston and Isaac Butt rub shoulders with examinations of agricultural improvement, Dublin's animal geographies and Ireland's healing places. Literary writers like Emily Lawless and Seumas O'Sullivan are looked at anew, encouraging us to re-think Darwinian influences in Ireland and the history of the Irish literary revival, and transnational perspectives are brought to bear on Ireland's national park history and the dynamics of Irish natural history. Much modern Irish history is concerned with access to natural resources, whether this reflects the catastrophic effect of the Great Famine or the conflicts associated with agrarian politics, but historical and literary analyses are rarely framed explicitly in these terms. The collection responds to the 'material turn' in the humanities and contemporary concern about the environment by re-imagining Ireland's nineteenth century in fresh and original ways. List of contributors: Matthew Kelly, Helen O'Connell, David Brown, Colin W. Reid, Huston Gilmore, Ronan Foley, Juliana Adelman, Mary Orr, Patrick Maume and Seán Hewitt.

Made up of rolling green hills, jagged coastlines, and hundreds of smaller islands, Ireland is known for its geography as much as its culture. Irish music, literature, and dance have provided the country with a unique character that is world-renowned. Learn about the Republic of Ireland’s fascinating history, culture, geography, and more in Republic of Ireland, an Exploring Countries book.

'Ireland's heritage is being steadily whittled away by human exploitation, pollution and other aspects of modern development. This could represent a serious loss to the nation.' Irish Government Report, June 1969 Nature in Ireland is disappearing at an alarming rate. Overfishing, industrial-scale farming and pollution have decimated wildlife habitats and populations. In a single lifetime, vast shoals of herring, rivers bursting with salmon, and bogs alive with flocks of curlew and geese have all become folk memories. Coastal and rural communities are struggling to survive; the foundations of our tourism and agricultural sectors are being undermined. The lack of political engagement frequently sees the state in the European Court of Justice for environmental issues. Pádraic Fogarty authoritatively charts how this grim failure to manage our natural resources has impoverished our country. But all is not lost: he also reveals possibilities for the future, describing how we can fill our seas with fish, farm in tune with nature, and create forests that benefit both people and wildlife. He makes a persuasive case for the return of long-lost species like wild boar, cranes and wolves, showing how the interests of the country and its nature can be reconciled. A provocative call to arms, Whittled Away presents an alternative path that could lead us all to a brighter future.

Looks in detail at the history of economic thought on natural resources and the environment, the economics of fisheries, forestry, mining, petroleum, coal and natural gas deposits. There are also chapters devoted to environmental degradation and the economics of the world's natural wonders.