The Irish Environmental Law Association was established in 1993 with the following aims:

• To promote for the benefit of the public generally, the enhancement and conservation of the environment.
• To advance the education of the public in all matters relating to the development, teaching, application and practice of law relating to the environment.
• To encourage collaboration between all those interested and concerned with environmental law.
• To collect and distribute information in relation to environmental law.
• To review, advise and comment on issues of environmental law and its application.

The Association is open to both lawyers and non-lawyers, although, the primary focus is on legal aspects of environmental regulation and practice. Inevitably, there is a large degree of overlap with the planning law system and this aspect is also incorporated into our presentations.

Since its inception, the Association has held regular meetings covering diverse topics from speakers from a broad range of disciplines relating to planning and the environment. Examples of topics covered include Environmental Assessment, Director’s, Officer’s and Manager’s Liability under Environmental Law, Freedom of Access to Information on the Environment, Civil Liability for Environmental Damage and Environmental Issues Facing Business.

The Association operates pursuant to a Constitution, adopted at its meeting on 13 December 2016. The Constitution can be viewed by clicking on the following link: IELA Constitution

The Association holds about four meetings a year, which are typically held in the Law School, Trinity College. A guest speaker usually addresses the meeting on his/her specialised subject and the topic is then opened to the floor for questions and discussion to facilitate an exchange of views and sharing of knowledge from people with different perspectives and backgrounds.  This is followed by short updates on recent Irish and EU case law and legislative developments.

The presentations and updates are made available for members’ download from this website  after each meeting is held.