Record temps in June show that climate change is "here and now"

Green Party Cllr Mark Hackett has warned that climate change cannot be ignored after Met Éireann published figures that reveal this June as the hottest on record, with an average temperature of 16+°C.

“Climate change is not some distant or vague concept - it’s here and now. Ironically growing conditions in Offaly in May and June have been perfect but we can see from recent summer storms around the country how destructive and costly they can be. I know from farmers on sandy soils that drought has been a real problem."

"We need to cop on - we need to act now and stop listening to the nonsense that we can keep going exactly as we have been - we are quickly heading towards a disaster for our children: How many times do we need to be told? We know what we need to do, we need to cut our carbon emissions and there are plenty of supports to help us do this – we need to work together now and get the work done.”

The highest temperature of 2023 so far, 28.8°C, was reported at Oak Park in Co Carlow on Tuesday, June 13. This is the third consecutive year that a temperature at or above this value has been observed in Ireland.