​SLR Consulting Ireland (SLR) was contracted by the Geological Survey Ireland (GSI) in November 2015 to carry out a systematic review and gap analysis of the 'key issues around social acceptance of geoscience activities & Earth resources in Ireland'. The focus was on core geoscience activities, including research, exploration and extraction of minerals, energy and water resources and to identify areas of research that the Irish Centre for Research in Applied Geosciences (iCRAG, www.icrag-centre.org ) may address in the future.

SLR carried out the study in three phases: literature review; stakeholder consultations with industry, academia, community and government sectors, followed by a final consultative workshop with key stakeholders. A dozen key issues and findings, with gap analysis, were identified through the study, which were prioritised by stakeholders at the final workshop. These are presented below for consideration for further research.

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