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‘To advance environmental justice for a peaceful society, a healthier democracy, the rights of nature and a sustainable economy.’
The Environmental Justice Network Ireland (EJNI) is a community of practice connecting interdisciplinary academic researchers, NGOs, regulatory staff, environmental lawyers, representatives from industry and government with community activists and the ‘barefoot lawyers and planners’ who have emerged over the last decade on the island of Ireland in response to serious environmental governance failures. EJNI’s aim is to support communities and individuals that are engaged in both promoting environmental justice and challenging environmental injustice through enhancing knowledge about complex environmental and legal issues that exist on the island of Ireland.
Dr Ciara Brennan is the Director of EJNI. Ciara has a particular interest in environmental justice and environmental governance in post-conflict societies, climate governance and access to justice. In her capacity as Director and co-founder of EJNI, Dr Brennan has undertaken extensive project management and co-authored multiple reports, policy notes and technical briefings which deal with wide-ranging environmental law and governance issues on the island of Ireland and across Europe. Contact: ciara@ejni.net
Caitlin Mcilhennon is the Research and Policy Coordinator for EJNI with a Law and French degree from University College Cork (BCL) and a master’s degree in Environmental and Climate Law from University College Dublin (MSc). She leads on our Manual of Environmental Justice project, EJNI Communications, and is a legal & policy researcher for the Climate Governance Observatory project concerning: Strategic Climate Litigation, EU Policymaking and National Framework Climate Laws. Contact: caitlin@ejni.net
Shea Anderson is the Research Assistant for Environmental Justice Network Ireland. He has a Law degree from Queen's University Belfast and has carried out research concerning: a needs assessment for the Manual of Environmental Justice, Rights of Nature Council Motions, Strategic Climate Litigation on the Island of Ireland and is now engaged in research regarding planning litigation. He has previously worked with Friends of the Earth in performing legal research regarding the environmental protection powers of local governments in NI. Contact: shea@ejni.net
Alison Hough BL worked a legal researcher, then practiced as a barrister for 8 years, before becoming a law lecturer with Athlone IT. While lecturing Environmental, Health and Safety Law, Contract Law, Constitutional Law, Equity, and Land Law. Alison has a track record of peer reviewed publications in environmental law journals on the topic of the Aarhus Convention, and on Brexit. She is An Taisce’s Representative on ELIG Bureau (a governmental advisory body examining environmental law implementation in Ireland), and volunteers with a variety of local organisations including AIT FLAC, Westmeath Climate Action Network (WECAN), and New Horizon Refugee Advice and Support. Alison is interested in pursuing collaborative projects in the area of cross-border public participation, and cross-border environmental governance.
For a full list of publications see here.
Bróna is a lecturer in the School of Law at Queen’s University Belfast. Bróna's research area is property and sustainability, looking specifically at the ways in which property shapes environmental outcomes. Bróna has conducted extensive research on agricultural land ownership in Ireland and has published a chapter in Modern Studies in Property Law exploring the agricultural system of conacre. Bróna has expertise in land rights and property ideology across the island of Ireland, as well as environmental law broadly defined. Bróna is also working on other projects that expand on the idea of reconceptualizing property. For example, she is researching Rights of Nature as a means of addressing environmental crises, and how this approach might interact with property rights, both on the island of Ireland and further afield. She is also working with colleagues at Queen’s University on a project exploring the problem of food waste by consumers, and the role that a changed understanding of ownership might play in helping address this issue. QUB profile available here.
Simon Wood, a filmmaker with 40 years experience and a founder member of Northern Visions and NVTV, runs Ravenhill Films in Belfast specialising in documentaries and short films on environmental issues. www.ravenhillfilms.com Contact: 07732742955
Dr Peter Doran is a senior lecturer at the School of Law at Queens University Belfast an a founding member of EJNI. He has published on climate change and foreign policy, the wellbeing economy, and the rights of nature. His current research interests include links between ecology, decoloniality and rights of nature on the island of Ireland. He is also a lead member of the Wellbeing Economy Alliance in Ireland, and a senior editor/writer for the International Institute for Sustainable Development's respected Earth Negotiations Bulletin.
James Orr has an academic background in law, town planning and leadership. He is the Director of Friends of the Earth in Northern Ireland. In his previous career he worked in local government and was also for many years the Northern Ireland Director for the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust. His current areas of interest are the dynamics of movement building and supporting communities who are suffering from environmental injustice. An emerging area of professional and personal interest is challenging the current legal basis of environmental protection and affording Nature its own inalienable Rights to evolve, flourish and regenerate.
Assistant Professor of Environmental and Planning Law at University College Dublin; public interest lawyer with practice experience in England and Ireland. Andrew Jackson, Conserving Europe's Wildlife: Law and Policy of the Natura 2000 Network of Protected Areas (Routledge, 2018). A book on the history and development of EU nature conservation law: Details here. More information on Andrew’s current research is available here.
Dean Blackwood is a chartered town planner who retired in 2013 after thirty-four years working in the public sector. He is a director and the Chairperson of the River Faughan Anglers Ltd., a cross-community, not-for-profit and voluntary-run organisation managing the fishing rights on the River Faughan. In highlighting failing environmental governance on this designated European site, Dean’s activism has saw him raise the plight of the Faughan before national and international fora, including the High Court, European Commission and the United Nations. He is committed to giving his river a voice.
Phil Lock is a cyber security consultant with 20 years experience in messaging infrastructure, networking and email authentication. He helps EJNI with operations, infrastructure and email. He has a keen interest in environmental protection and justice in Ireland.
