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A blog from the Northern Ireland Assembly Research and Information Service

Suzie.Cave

How do you control a space invader? The problem of Japanese Knotweed in Northern Ireland

Since the introduction of Japanese Knotweed as an ornamental plant in the nineteenth century, it has spread throughout watercourses, transport routes and waste ground, out-competing native plants and damaging buildings and infrastructure. This article examines some of the legislative options available for tackling it and asks whether some of the measures pursued elsewhere may be applicable in Northern Ireland.

Image of Japanese Knotweed
Japanese Knotweed (Image: Calln Darabus, under Creative Commons)

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Rainclouds and a rainbow over the sea (Creative Commons; credit: Niklas Sjöblom)

Climate change: picking up where we left off

Rainclouds and a rainbow over the sea (Creative Commons; credit: Niklas Sjöblom)
Rainclouds and a rainbow over the Baltic Sea (Creative Commons; credit: Niklas Sjöblom)

At the beginning of the last Assembly mandate in 2011, the Research and Information Service wrote a piece on the possibility of new legislation for Northern Ireland, ‘Climate Change: the need to raise the game’ [page 90 | PDF | 4.7mb]. Five years on, the climate change debate still remains and legislation specific to Northern Ireland has not yet been introduced. However, discussions around the introduction of legislation have more recently picked up momentum again.

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The merging of environment and agriculture

A new mandate, a new Environment

The merging of environment and agriculture
The merging of environment and agriculture

Local government underwent significant structural change in 2015 with the number of councils reducing from 26 to 11, and the transfer of many functions from central to local government. This has brought changes to the ways in which the environment is managed. In 2016, these changes have continued with a reorganisation of Executive functions.

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