The 2026 edition of Ireland’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Conference took place on Thursday 5th March in Athlone. The conference’s theme of EIA & Renewable Energy brought together consenting authorities, developers, statutory environmental bodies, consultants, academics, Government departments and NGO representatives to discuss the essential role this assessment tool plays in enabling effective design and timely consenting of projects.
Nearly 140 professionals registered for the event and were able to freely gather and discuss enhancing the use of EIA thanks to funding from Green Tech Skillnet and the Skillnet Offshore Wind Academy, who once again partnered with FOTHERGILL Training & Consulting Ltd to deliver this highly successful event.
Josh Fothergill curated the conference program and Chaired its plenary sessions across the day. The conference plenary speakers across the morning were from EDF, ERM, An Coimisiun Pleanala and the Environmental Protection Agency. The conference then went into a series of breakout workshop sessions with all delegates taking part in sessions on:
- Links between EIA and assessment under the Habitats Directive,
- What EIA can learn from project delivery, and
- Learning from EIA related litigation.
The day ended with a plenary panel discussion on how to make future EIA practice both efficient and effective, including legal, developer, consultancy and statutory consultee perspectives.
You can access and download all the presentations from the conference below, plus the agenda – and, where available, a summary of feedback from the discussions held on the breakout workshops.
Opening Plenary
Drivers of change in EIA – Risks & Opportunities
- Josh Fothergill (Chair) – Fothergill Training & Consulting Ltd | Access the day’s agenda here
- Skillnet Address – Jeanette Gill | Download Jeanette’s PPT: Addressing the EIA skills challenge
- James McDermott – EDF Power Solutions | Download James’ PPT: Drivers of Change for EIA
- Ross McNally – ERM | Download Ross’s PPT: EIA Risks and opportunities
Morning Plenary
EIA – Statutory Body Perspectives
- Ciara Kellett – An Coimisiún Pleanála | Download Ciara’s PPT: REDIII and its links to EIA Practice
- Tadhg O’Mahony – Environmental Protection Agency | Download Tadhg’s PPT: SEA influencing EIA
EIA Learning Workshop
EIA & HDA Linkages, Distinctions, Efficiencies
- Elaine Dromey – Dromey Eco Consulting
- Paul Scott – National Parks & Wildlife Service
Download Elaine and Paul’s PPT: EIA and Appropriate Assessment
Learnings from EIA to Delivery in Strategic Infrastructure
- Des Cox – Vantage Planning
- Robert Fennelly – EirGrid
Recent lessons from caselaw on EIA
- Jonathan Moore, Rory Ferguson – Both from Fieldfisher’s Planning & Environment Team
Closing Plenary – Panel Discussion
How to ensure future EIA practice is efficient & effective
Panelists (no slides)
- Brendan Slattery – McCann FitzGerald LLP
- Aoife O’Leary – EMPower
- Tadhg O’Mahony – EPA
Panelist (with slides)
- Gareth Coughlin – APEM Group
Interested in a 2027 EIA Conference?
Based on the great feedback received from delegates and speakers alike we plan to return with a third edition of Ireland’s EIA Conference in spring 2027.
If you, or your organisation, is interested in supporting the next iteration of this renewable energy oriented EIA conference, whether as a speaker, sponsor or to provide other assistance please do get in touch with the team by emailing either:
- Josh Fothergill | E: Josh@fothergilltc.com
- Jeanette Gill (Green Tech Skillnet) | E: jeanette.gill@windenergyireland.com
