University College Dublin (UCD) professor Dr Aoibhinn Ní Shuilleabháin has spoken about her experience of workplace sexual harassment in light of recent revelations about British comedian Russell Brand following a joint investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4 Dispatches.
"I'm really grateful for those women who came forward to talk about it because it takes a lot out of you. But it's very necessary," Dr Ní Shuilleabháin told Katie Hannon on Upfront: The Podcast.
Comedian and actor Russell Brand has been accused of rape, sexual assaults and emotional abuse during a seven-year period at the height of his fame.
"What I'm very mindful of are women that I know have had experiences that don't feel they can ever report it. Women who have been raped. I just hope that those victims feel like they have some sort of healing from having talked about it. But, I mean, it's horrifying," Dr Ní Shuilleabháin said.
LISTEN: Dr Aoibhinn Ní Shuilleabháin speaks to Katie Hannon on Upfront: The Podcast
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Dr Ní Shuilleabháin received a formal apology from UCD last year for her treatment by a member of staff while she was lecturing at the college. She went public in September of 2020 about workplace stalking and harassment she faced on campus by a colleague.
"It does really affect you. It totally affects your opinions of yourself in work and your opinions of work as well. But I have had really great support from friends, family and from colleagues and a lot of work has been done, which is great."
Biodiversity loss
Dr Ní Shuilleabháin was speaking to Upfront: The Podcast in her capacity as chair at the Citizens' Assembly for Biodiversity Loss.
A professor at the School of Mathematics & Statistics at UCD, she was at the Oireachtas Committee on Environment and Climate Action on Tuesday where she told committee members how Ireland "is facing a devastating and enormous problem of biodiversity loss."
Dr Ní Shuilleabháin said that the priority when it comes to protecting our biodiversity must be "enacting our own laws."
"We are breaking our own laws consistently in terms of protecting nature," Dr Ní Shuilleabháin said.
"50% of our freshwater systems in Ireland are in poor or deteriorating condition. What happens if it gets worse? We had 500 pristine rivers in the 1980s. Now we have 32.
"Freshwater pearl mussels live to over the age of 100 and they're extinct in many other parts of the world. But they are here in Ireland, they're in 67 sites across the country. 66 of those are polluted."
The Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss met throughout 2022 and made 159 recommendations in its final report which was published in April of this year.
Many of the recommendations centred on the role agri-business plays in biodiveristy loss.
"The agrifood industry needs to be part of the conversation on how we can restore and conserve biodiversity. We've got to a point where we can no longer maximise the outputs. We have to optimise outputs within environmental boundaries," Dr Ní Shuilleabháin said.
WATCH: Dr Aoibhinn Ní Shuilleabháin says "We have to optimise outputs within environmental boundaries"
On the wide adoption of intensive farming practices since the removal of milk quotas in 2015 Dr Ní Shuilleabháin said that "it's a huge failure of the farming representatives who have pushed for this without looking at the bigger picture and without actually considering or communicating the repercussions."
The ongoing debate around nitrate derogation, which was discussed on Upfront with Katie Hannon on Monday evening, is another example of poor leadership on behalf of farming representatives according to Dr Ní Shuilleabháin.
"They knew this was going to happen with the nitrates derogation ten years ago. I've spoken to so many people about it and everybody that I've spoken to has said the writing has been on the wall. If that wasn't communicated to farmers well enough, then there's a lot of people to blame for that here.
The Irish Farmers’ Association this week called for a renegotiation of the current nitrate derogation.
However, Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue told RTÉ on Monday that during a meeting with EU environment commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius it was confirmed to him that it was "simply not going to be possible" to renegotiate the current derogation.
Irish farmers have been availing of a nitrates derogation that allowed them higher stocking rates on their farms. The European Commission has decided to restrict the provision of flexibility on nitrates rules affecting more than 3,000 Irish dairy and beef farmers from the first of January next year
The arrangement was dependent on Ireland delivering on a commitment to improve water quality. The Government has failed to do this.
Listen to Aoibhinn Ní Shuilleabháin chatting to Katie Hannon on Upfront: The Podcast here, on Spotify or on Apple Podcasts.
