Rapid Development & Community Mobilization in the Republic of Ireland

Abstract

The recent phase of economic growth in the Republic of Ireland has led to an increase in industrial and infrastructural development across the island. One offshoot of this accelerated growth has been a rise in community based environmental social movements, as environmentalists and concerned communities have come to mobilise campaigns to protect local communities and hinterlands. These campaigns can be traced back to community mobilizations against proposals for nuclear power stations or toxic plants in rural regions in the 1970s and 1980s, and have continued in defence of rural wilderness parks, or in the rural farmlands.. This paper examines the background, rationale and outcomes of community mobilizations against unpopular forms of infrastructural development in Ireland.

Keywords:

• community organizing
• community response
• growth issues
• infrastructure