Five Degrees: ‘My advice: not to live in a rural area, and not to marry somebody from abroad’

Hannah Daly, a researcher with the MaREI centre, tells the Five Degrees of Change podcast that climate change should be a secondary school subject, Ireland desperately needs a land use strategy, and children should be able to walk to school without fear of cars

Hannah Daly of UCC: ‘We have designed our whole society around the need to own a private car.’ Picture: Valerie O'Sullivan

The influence of academics on real world policymaking is sometimes difficult to pinpoint. However, extensive research on the energy transition carried out by the MaREI centre at University College Cork (UCC) has become a crucial resource for Irish policy makers in recent years, as they grapple with the complex task of decarbonising Irish society.

Hannah Daly is one of the resident researchers with the MaREI centre, where she also lectures UCC students in sustainable energy ...