{"id":565524,"date":"2026-07-24T06:50:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T06:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/565524\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T06:50:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T06:50:08","slug":"govt-announces-plans-to-draft-national-parks-legislation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/565524\/","title":{"rendered":"Govt announces plans to draft National Parks legislation"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Government has announced its intention to draft new national parks legislation that will establish nature conservation and restoration as the service’s primary management purpose.<\/p>\n

It will put Ireland’s national parks on a statutory footing for the first time.<\/p>\n

Until now, national parks have been established and managed through a range of legislative and administrative arrangements.<\/p>\n

However, there is no comprehensive statutory framework dedicated specifically to their designation, governance and management.<\/p>\n

The move will align Ireland with international best practice and enable the State to provide “a coherent and enduring basis for their protection, restoration and management”.<\/p>\n

Minister of State for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity, Christopher O\u2019Sullivan said the legislation would constitute “one of the most significant developments in nature conservation legislation in the history of the State”.<\/p>\n

\"Christopher
\nMinister of State for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity, Christopher O’Sullivan TD<\/p>\n

“We know that we need to lead nature restoration on public land, and our National Parks are central to achieving this,” said Mr O\u2019Sullivan.<\/p>\n

“The legislation will also provide for a governance and management framework that is capable of responding to contemporary environmental challenges, including biodiversity loss, climate change and increasing recreational pressures.<\/p>\n

“This includes management planning, conferring powers to make byelaws that will regulate certain activities within National Parks, and enabling the prohibition or restriction of certain other activities, where necessary, alongside appropriate enforcement powers and sanctions,” Mr O’Sullivan added.<\/p>\n

The proposal to develop the Bill was brought to the Cabinet earlier this week by Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, James Browne.<\/p>\n

Director General of the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) Niall \u00d3 Donnch\u00fa welcomed the decision.<\/p>\n

“As we look to the future, it is essential that our National Parks are supported by legislation that is fit for contemporary purpose: legislation that clarifies operations and management across the National Park system,” Mr \u00d3 Donnch\u00fa said.<\/p>\n

“It must also strengthen our authority and enforcement powers as we in NPWS work tirelessly to protect these extraordinary natural gems.<\/p>\n

Over the coming months, a “general scheme” for the legislation will be developed in consultation with relevant government departments, state bodies, local authorities, environmental stakeholders, landowners, community interests and other interested parties.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Government has announced its intention to draft new national parks legislation that will establish nature conservation and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":565525,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-565524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=565524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565524\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/565525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=565524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=565524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=565524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}