‘We’re too busy for that kind of stuff: Progress towards local sustainable development in ireland

This chapter discusses an issue of the broader context for local sustainability, and describes the relevant policy context either side of the border and evaluates the degree of implementation in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. It considers the implications for cross-border sustainability strategies and how local sustainability could be related to the issue of citizenship. A dominant theme in debates over sustainability is an increased emphasis on action at a local level, summed up in the maxim ‘thinks globally and act locally’. Indeed it has been suggested that 60 per cent of agreements made at the 1992 Rio Summit and 40 per cent of the European Environmental Action Plans have to be implemented at the local level and contributed a ‘New Localism’ where ‘local’ is conceived in both physical and social terms. The development of an island ethic of sustainability is therefore a major project that faces significant ideological and constitutional barriers.