Two countries where the people and politicians place the health of the environment and the citizens ahead of short term $$$ from Big Fracking. The article refers to the Irish government and then talks about a UK wide moratorium, but of course, it should have stated Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK, as opposed to Ireland.
On Wednesday, the Welsh parliament voted in favor of a measure calling on the government to prevent fracking from taking place “until it is proven to be safe in both an environmental and public health context.” The vote comes just one week after Scotland announced a temporary fracking ban in order to allot time for a full public health assessment of the process.
“It’s a historic day,” said North Wales assembly member Llyr Gruffyd, of the Plaid Cymru party. “This is a clear statement from the National Assembly for Wales that we want a frack-free Wales.”
The vote effectively makes it impossible for shale gas projects to receive planning permits in Wales. With the Irish Government also waiting to proceed with the controversial process, pressure is building in London for a British ban and possible U.K.-wide moratorium.
As to fracking in Ireland (as opposed to Northern Ireland):
The debate about this controversial topic is really heating up in Ireland now -- a place where activists say it would be particularly dangerous to drill as it is full of aquifers. I interviewed Leah Doherty of No Fracking Ireland to better understand what people are worried about on the Emerald Isle.
Why is fracking Ireland different than fracking other places?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maureen-seaberg/why-fracking-ireland-is-d_b_5883998.html
As the journalist Greg Palast noted when visiting Ireland last year,
"fracking here would be insane, Ireland is like one big flood plain, there is water everywhere." The River Shannon is one of the biggest rivers in Europe and flows like a vein right down through the country. It is in counties all along the Shannon basin region that fracking is being proposed. Our landscape is dotted with lakes and rivers thoughout this region and nationally important aquifers that supply drinking water to the communities in these areas.
In areas here zoned for fracking there are underground water systems that geologists are only beginning to explore. We still have no idea how or in which direction this maze of underground water flows and connects. Also because of water shortages, for the first time in history the metropolitan area of Dublin is seeking to extract water from this region to supply the growing demand for domestic water there. Many of the most important acquifers in this region are very shallow and there would be an extremely high risk of pollution from any heavy industrial activity, never mind fracking. Here in Ireland there are laws forbidding people to even build houses near important aquifers, so the idea that fracking could take place anywhere near our underground water systems is crazy.
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