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Philip Boucher-Hayes

@philipb-h.bsky.social

5.9K followers 310 following 180 posts

Mostly a journalist. Mostly RTÉ Radio and Television (Ireland). Mostly climate, farming, nature. Never said no to a Ginger Snap biscuit.

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Philip Boucher-Hayes @philipb-h.bsky.social · May 21

Hot Mess has an archive of 30 episodes. The contributors are the best #climate people in their field. It’s a public resource. Please share.

Apple 👉 podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/h...

Spotify 👉 open.spotify.com/show/3BGS0Cn...

Pocketcasts 👉 pca.st/podcast/6245...

RTÉ 👉 pca.st/podcast/6245...

Hot Mess

Podcast · RTÉ Radio 1 · Measuring the gap between Ireland's climate aspirations and climate actions.

open.spotify.com

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Philip Boucher-Hayes @philipb-h.bsky.social · 4d

With everything going on in the polycrisis #Climate has been very much pushed to the side. So I’m impressed (and a little relieved) that @aljazeera.com has bought and scheduled a documentary series I made. Starts next Thursday. #GlobalWarning #ClimateCrisis

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Philip Boucher-Hayes @philipb-h.bsky.social · 11d

Nobody can be blamed for the largest fish kill in Irish history Everyone along the Blackwater River was complying with the rules.
Might the rules no longer be fit for purpose?
#Climate #Biodiversity #Rivers

Listen: 👉 www.rte.ie/radio/radio1...

How to restore river health

The report on the River Blackwater fish kill published this week was inconclusive, with no enough evidence to say what was to blame for the largest fish kill in Irish history. We discuss the impact of...

www.rte.ie

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Philip Boucher-Hayes @philipb-h.bsky.social · Jul 28

Fady and his brother were wounded by shrapnel from an Israeli bomb. Tareq’s injuries were so serious he required medical evacuation last Friday. Luckily Fady was able to accompany him. They are in Paris now, and hoping to be reunited with their families in Cairo.

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Philip Boucher-Hayes @philipb-h.bsky.social · Jun 25

Yep. Jet Stream collapse is where it’s at.

Philip Boucher-Hayes @philipb-h.bsky.social · Jun 24

I’m doing a #climate thing at the Hinterland Festival on Saturday. Despite or perhaps because the programmers describe me as a hot mess, there’s only a few tickets left.

👉 www.hinterland.ie/p-576-philip...

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Philip Boucher-Hayes @philipb-h.bsky.social · Jun 21

I can personally vouch for the integrity of this GoFundMe. Of the many times I thought his situation could not get worse - months in a tent on the beach, house flattened on his return - this is the worst. If you can’t donate please share this. 👇👇👇👇

gofund.me/0c79ba3b

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Philip Boucher-Hayes @philipb-h.bsky.social · Jun 21

This is an example of the kind of work my producer/cameraman colleague Fady Hossam has been making inside #Gaza.

He and his brother got hit by shrapnel from an Israeli air strike while searching for food on Thursday. Fady is the sole breadwinner for many relatives.
🧵

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Philip Boucher-Hayes @philipb-h.bsky.social · Jun 20

04.57am Wicklow

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Philip Boucher-Hayes @philipb-h.bsky.social · Jun 16

Which should be compared with what the Gardai told me at the time.

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Philip Boucher-Hayes @philipb-h.bsky.social · Jun 16

PS - I coined the nickname “Kitchen Table Historian” back in 2014. I regretted it almost straight away. It undermined the investigative rigour of Catherine’s work. Time to let it fade away, I think.

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Philip Boucher-Hayes @philipb-h.bsky.social · Jun 16

Thanks to Catherine we are dealing with our history in a literal forensic examination, and being guided by the evidence.

It feels like a turning point. Or at the least a marker being laid down for a new standard to we hold ourselves to.

Thank you Catherine.

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Philip Boucher-Hayes @philipb-h.bsky.social · Jun 16

Her North Star was that she knew what the facts said and where the evidence would lead anyone that studied it.

It took 11 years, but today we have started unearthing the past and setting it right. No more “sure you know what went on in there” nudges and winks.

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Philip Boucher-Hayes @philipb-h.bsky.social · Jun 16

It was ferocious. For providing her a platform I received only a fraction of the abuse Catherine did, but for me the volume was completely unprecedented. For her I know it was nearly overwhelming. Not that she buckled or wavered under it.

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Philip Boucher-Hayes @philipb-h.bsky.social · Jun 16

In 2014 she was unequivocal that the correct response to her revelation was to exhume the babies, identify and reunite them with as many relatives as could be found.

I couldn’t deny the logic of her position, but I didn’t think she had correctly figured how much pushback there would be.

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Philip Boucher-Hayes @philipb-h.bsky.social · Jun 16

By coincidence I was passing Tuam today as the hoarding went up around the Mother & Baby Home site. A discreet and respectful veil.

It’s 11 years since I took this photo of Catherine Corless at her kitchen table. I rang her today just to say hi.
🧵

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Philip Boucher-Hayes @philipb-h.bsky.social · Jun 14

Thomas is right. Your questions are answered within the piece.

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Philip Boucher-Hayes @philipb-h.bsky.social · Jun 14

Because the fines are imposed at a national level, not sectoral. The correct question is “why should the polluters not pay for it?”

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Philip Boucher-Hayes @philipb-h.bsky.social · Jun 14

That is the reputational risk the industry is running - burdening the taxpayer with the bill from its polluting. I think they have been promised at a very high political level (erroneously) that the fines won’t be imposed.

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Philip Boucher-Hayes @philipb-h.bsky.social · Jun 14

The beef industry has made less progress in offering incentives.

I asked the Sustainability Manager from Larry Goodman’s ABP were they happy to run a very profitable multi billion euro business and get the taxpayer to pick up the bill for their polluting.

Listen: www.rte.ie/radio/radio1...

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Philip Boucher-Hayes @philipb-h.bsky.social · Jun 14

The dairy industry explains why it hasn’t yet incentivised farmers to adopt these tools.

The choice is stark. Either business and taxpayers pay for this work to be done now, or we reduce the herd by 1 million to avoid billions in fines.

Listen: www.rte.ie/radio/radio1...

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Philip Boucher-Hayes @philipb-h.bsky.social · Jun 14

The first part of this programme is on the Cavan dairy farm of Thomas Duffy.

Adding up what he has done, and what he could do if he received financial support for the new tools, he estimates his farm could achieve a 33% CO2e cut.

Listen: 👉 www.rte.ie/radio/radio1...

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Philip Boucher-Hayes @philipb-h.bsky.social · Jun 14

Head scratcher: EPA emissions projections show Ag will miss its legally binding targets by a country mile

BUT …

All the tech needed to get the job done exists in the real world. So why isn’t it being used?

🧵1/4

www.rte.ie/radio/radio1...

How to reduce farming emissions

Two weeks ago the latest set of results showed that if business continues as usual that not only would the climate change target not be met, but that emissions could increase.

www.rte.ie

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Philip Boucher-Hayes @philipb-h.bsky.social · Jun 7

Here … just for you …

www.bbc.com/news/article...

Scientists at Loughborough University create 'world's smallest violin'

The violin is smaller than a human hair and has "laid the groundwork" for future research.

www.bbc.com

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Philip Boucher-Hayes @philipb-h.bsky.social · Jun 4

Get a terraforming start up on board too and for the right price we could promise to Restore Factory Settings on the planet every 200 years or so. Oh think of the shareholder wealth this will create.

Philip Boucher-Hayes @philipb-h.bsky.social · Jun 4

Why spend public money now preventing extinction, when in the future you can give it to a private company for “de-extinction”.

Makes perfect sense 👀

www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

Trump team cites wolf ‘de-extinction’ as it seeks to cut endangered species list

The interior secretary hailed a biotech company’s claim to have brought back the dire wolf, while the administration and GOP push to roll back species protections.

www.washingtonpost.com

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