An Taisce – The National Trust for Ireland (; meaning "the store" or "the treasury"), established in June 1948, is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) active in the areas of the environment and built heritage in Ireland. It considers itself the oldest environmental and non-governmental organisation in Ireland. Naturalist

Robert Lloyd Praeger Robert Lloyd Praeger (25 August 1865 – 5 May 1953) was an Irish naturalist, writer and librarian. Biography From a Unitarian background, he was born and raised in Holywood, County Down. He attended the school of the Reverend McAlister and t ...

was its first president. An Taisce is a membership organisation and charity, not a state or semi-state organisation. However, it receives

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

funding for specific programmes, such as Blue Flag beaches, Green Schools and the annual National Spring Clean, and it has a statutory role in certain planning and environmental processes in the country.

Role

An Taisce's range of expertise extends across Ireland's natural, built, and social heritage. It seeks to educate, inform, and lead public opinion on the environment, to advocate and influence policy, and to manage a small portfolio of heritage properties.

Statutory roles

The Planning Acts provide for An Taisce, and about 20 other prescribed bodies, to be informed of all planning applications in areas of scenic beauty or high amenity significance or where architectural, archaeological or environmental issues need to be considered. Local authorities are required, in certain defined circumstances under the Planning & Development Regulations, to consult An Taisce on development proposals.

Operations

The organisation is split into three operational divisions: * The Environmental Education Unit operates nationwide programmes on behalf of the Irish government's

Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage ( ga, An Roinn Tithíochta, Rialtais Áitiúil agus Oidhreachta) is a department of the Government of Ireland. It is led by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage who is ...

, the National Transport Authority and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

, such as the Blue Flag

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

quality accreditation programme and Green Schools Programme that aims to promote higher environmental standards in schools. * The Environmental Advocacy Unit monitors roughly 5% of all planning (local authority development approval) applications made annually, making submissions on a small number of those received, and appealing about 300 decisions a year to

An Bord Pleanála (; meaning "The Planning Board"; ABP) is an independent, statutory, quasi-judicial body that decides on appeals from planning decisions made by local authorities in the Republic of Ireland. As of 2007, An Bord Pleanála directly decided major ...

, the statutory planning appeals board. The Advocacy Unit also monitors environmental standards and co-ordinates policy formation from the elected advocacy committees amongst the membership. * The Properties Unit takes ownership of and looks after properties that have either historical significance or are environmentally sensitive. The properties listed below are taken care of by both professional staff and volunteers who are involved with the day-to-day management of income generating properties such as

Tailors' Hall Tailors' Hall is the oldest of two surviving guildhalls in Dublin, Ireland. It is located on Back Lane, off High Street, in the part of the city known as the Liberties. Aside from meetings of its own and many other of the guilds of Dublin, the ...

(which it also makes available for private hire) and the restoration of important resources such as the

Boyne Navigation The Boyne Navigation ( ga, Loingseoireacht na Bóinne) is a series of canals running 31 km (19 mi) roughly parallel to the River Boyne from Oldbridge to Navan in County Meath, in Ireland. The navigation was once used by horse-drawn ...

Structure

The organisation comprises over 5,000 members, with a range of membership fees. Some members are also organised in local organisations. Overall steering of the organisation is in the hands of a council, which in turn elects a board of management, and other internal policy and operational committees.

Trust properties

* Tailors' Hall, Back Lane, Dublin (headquarters, base for 17 staff) * Booterstown marsh Nature Reserve, Dublin *

and Towpath,

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the sou ...

* The Crane,

Gort Gort ( or ) is a town of around 3,000 inhabitants in County Galway in the west of Ireland. Located near the border with County Clare, the town lies between the Burren and the Slieve Aughty and is served by the R458 and R460 regional roads, wh ...

Weigh House,

County Galway "Righteousness and Justice" , anthem = () , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg , map_caption = Location in Ireland , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = ...

* Crocknafarragh,

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...

* The Grove, Morehampton Road Wildlife Sanctuary, Dublin * The

Gull Islands Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari. They are most closely related to the terns and skimmers and only distantly related to auks, and even more distantly to waders. Until the 21st century, m ...

and Rough Island,

Mulroy Bay Mulroy Bay ( ga, Cuan na Maoil Ruaidh) is a relatively small bay / sea loch on the north coast of County Donegal, Ireland. Mulroy Bay is the most convoluted of the marine inlets in north-west Ireland. It is approximately 12 km long in a ...

, County Donegal *

Howth Howth ( ; ; non, Hǫfuð) is an affluent peninsular village and outer suburb of Dublin, Ireland. The district as a whole occupies the greater part of the peninsula of Howth Head, which forms the northern boundary of Dublin Bay, and includes ...

's Old Courthouse,

County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

* Kanturk Castle,

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

Mongan Bog Mongan Bog is a peat bog in County Offaly, Ireland. The bog is located east of Clonmacnoise, a monastic site on the river Shannon. A nature reserve covering about 120 ha protects part of the bog. Protection designations As a raised bog of ...

County Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in hono ...

Mullaghmore Mullaghmore may refer to the following places in Ireland: General * Mullaghmore, County Clare, a limestone hill * Mullaghmore Peninsula, a peninsula in County Sligo ** Mullaghmore, County Sligo, a village on the Mullaghmore Peninsula * Mullaghmore, ...

County Clare County Clare ( ga, Contae an Chláir) is a county in Ireland, in the Southern Region and the province of Munster, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council is the local authority. The county had a population of 118,817 ...

* Oweninny Bog,

County Mayo County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the Taxus baccata, yew trees") is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Conn ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

''An Taisce'' – National Trust for Ireland
1948 establishments in Ireland Organizations established in 1948 Environmental organisations based in Ireland Conservation in the Republic of Ireland Cultural heritage of Ireland National trusts