Cuffe Street

Driving to drink

2009-10-21T11:00:00.011+01:00

There's no getting away from alcohol in Ireland.

The pic shows a two and a half storey high ad for Jameson whiskey facing a local authority flat block in the centre of Dublin. In other parts of the city alcohol advertising is even more pervasive. The controversial JCDecaux billboards that went up earlier this year target drivers and are dominated by ads for Heineken and Southern Comfort, and in recent weeks lamp-posts in town were draped in banners announcing Guinness's 250th anniversary. Some days the smell of fermenting hops from St. James's Gate even reaches as far as Kildare Street.

Wasn't it Diageo that found themselves in difficulty a few years ago when they started giving away tricolours with a pint of plain plonked in the centre of the flag? That company sends Oireachtas members an occasional newsletter celebrating their alcohol products, and take care in ensuring that public representatives know about their tips for responsible drinking through sites such as DrinkIQ and MEAS -the 'Mature Enjoyment of Alcohol in Society'. Worthy though those initiatives are, I suspect their total budget is less than 1% of what the drink industry spends on advertising their products. The Licensed Vitners also sends an invitation every Christmas to their annual knees-up for TDs and Senators, but so far I haven't taken them up on their drinks offer.

Don't get me wrong, I'm fond of a drink myself, but I do think we need to move alcohol away from centre-stage. I don't think alcohol should be tied into sports sponsorship - I'd much prefer if such funding came from general taxation.

Drink driving has hit the headlines in the last few days, with Noel Dempsey's proposal to reduce legal blood alcohol limits to the norm in other European Counties. The rate is proposed to come down from 0.08 blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.05 BAC for most drivers, and 0.02 BAC for professional drivers, learner drivers, and for the first two years after you've passed your driving test.

Apparently Fianna Fáil's Parliamentary Party had an animated discussion of the issue last night with a fair amount of support for maintaining the status quo. I can understand that feelings run high on this issue. There's even one or two Green Party members in Dún Laoghaire who have voiced their concern to me on the Bill, and that's in a constituency where most residents have a pub that's a short walk away. They have pointed out that we should enforce the existing laws rather than extending them, and feel that there should be a graduated system of penalty points that might start at 2 points for being slightly over the limit and extending to losing your license for much higher blood alcohol levels.

The Oireachtas is a predominantly male institution, and it tends to concentrate on very male concerns. Any proposal to cut down on drink-driving gets a chorus of male disapproval, but I don't recall hearing too many TDs talk about the need for more mini-buses to get older people (mostly women) to and from Bingo.

I haven't got too many representations from constituents on changing the law on drink driving, but I can see that for many non-Dublin TDs and Senators the issue has loomed large. I'd hope that any debate around this issue might concentrate people's minds on the need to have decent planning. This can ensure that more homes are within walking distance of the pub, -and indeed the church and school for that matter. However, if you have a laissez-faire approach to planning that allows you to build houses almost anywhere, then you shouldn't be surprised if high numbers of people are killed driving to and from the pub. Thankfully the Public Against Road Carnage (PARC) group have done much to raise awareness and tackle driving deaths on Donegal's roads, a county that has one of the highest levels of road deaths.

Road conditions, fatigue and speed also contribute to road deaths. Sgt. Colm Finn, head of the Forensic Collision Investigation Unit based at Dublin Castle, said in 2007 that the normal speed limit of 80kph is quite often too fast on rural roads in places like Donegal, and mentioned road conditions as a factor. Lowering speed limits can reduce accident rates, and has the added benefit of improving fuel consumption and lowering carbon emissions. Fatigue has also been identified as a contributing factor in road deaths.

There's a lot we need to do to reduce the role of alcohol in Irish life. One of the areas where I found agreement with Michael McDowell was on the issue of small café-bars that could counter-act the rise of the super-pub, but even his limited proposals were easily defeated by the drinks lobby. Eamon Ryan in his role as Minister for Communications and Mary Harney as Minister for Health are working on measures to further tighten and refine existing codes to protect the nation’s health from excessive alcohol advertising. I'd be happier if they completely banned alcohol advertising and sponsorship, and put a health warning on the label. I don't believe that the voluntary codes are working. As least we now have random breath testing, which is a step in the right direction. Dr. Gerry Hickey from Alcohol Response Ireland has done good work on raising public awareness of problem drinking and is well aware from his own work of the damage that alcohol can cause.

As I write it seems that the Taoiseach has kicked the issue into touch, saying that any change might have to be looked at in a cross-border context. That will probably remove any imminent threat of revolt from the back-benches. Personally I'd favour the proposed reduction, and I suspect that we'll return to the issue early in the new year, if not before. The UK and Ireland are out of step with the rest of Europe, and I'd like to see the limits lowered.

Deireadh seachtaine maith

2009-10-12T10:35:00.009+01:00

"Deireadh seachtaine maith?" asked the teacher as I dropped the kids into school this morning. "Go h-an mhaith!" I replied.

Looking back, there were five intense challenges over the last ten days, and we got through them all. The Lisbon vote was followed by the hiatus over the Ceann Comhairle, then came the final hours of the Programme for Government negotiation on Thursday evening and approval from the Reference Group, followed by the two crucial votes of Green Party members on Saturday - one on the Programme itself, and then one on NAMA. We got through them all.

I took this pic just after 8.30pm on Friday evening. At that stage the Green Party Reference Group and our negotiators were holed up on the third floor of Agriculture House. Mary White is in the foreground and to her left are John Gormley, Colm O Caomhanaigh, Cllr. Mark Deary, Paul Gogarty, Elizabeth Davidson, Cllr. Vincent P Martin, Roderick O'Gorman, Dan Boyle, Trevor Sargent, Andrew Murphy, Trish Forde-Brennan, Stiofain Nutty and Damian Connon. John Downing's reflection is in the window and Eamon Ryan is just out of shot. It was a crucial moment, did we have a deal or not? John Downing was counting down the minutes to the news, yet we knew that crucial parts of the small print had not been signed off on. Like any agreement there has to be trust, and we went with the line that the deal was done in time for the 9 o'clock news.

The line by line work went on until ten. At that stage the Oireachtas staff were locking us out of the third floor and we had to go up to the fifth floor to continue till near midnight in a Department of Agriculture Conference Room that Trevor allowed us to use. Stiofain then took our edits back to Government Buildings where Noel Dempsey and Eamon Ryan worked with their teams till after 7.30 am. By the end of the night Fianna Fáil and the Green Party were eventually working off a single PC on the master copy. That was followed by a logistical nightmare of trying to print 20,000 pages by 10am. Copiers in Government Buildings and Leinster House were cranked up, and someone from John Gormley's office headed down to Reads and took over four copiers. There was even someone sent out to Stillorgan to a copy shop. That's why the documentation was delayed in getting to the Convention in the RDS until after 11am. Never again! The Programme was given first directly to the members so that they could see it first-hand, rather than through the media lens. The Sunday Tribune carried criticism from eco-socialists saying we had sold out, while the Irish edition of the Sunday Times led with the line that new taxes were on the way. I guess if you're getting equal and opposite criticism when you're in Government you're probably doing OK.

Look, let's have no illusions about it all. There is an avalanche coming down the hill in the December Budget. We have committed to cut €4 billion off current spending next year, the year after and the year after that. The next few years will be tough, and as the man with the green mohawk put it: "I said to those who have joined this government: I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat."

Interesting to think that facing across the table from each other at the negotiations were a business women, a former businessman and former Community Youth Worker from the Greens; and two former teachers and a lawyer from Fianna Fáil. They were well matched.

The Programme is transformational and here's a few highlights:

-we're establishing a €100m Enterprise Stabilization Fund and €200m Green Fund in AIB and BOI as well as a deposit account that will be ring-fenced for lending to Green projects. Recommendations from the Farmleigh Global Irish Forum will be implemented, as well as continuing the work laid out in the 'Building Ireland's Smart Economy' Framework;

-promotions within the Public Service will be on the basis of merit, eliminating seniority as a determining factor in public appointments. Senior appointments from Principal Officer upwards will be open to applicants from the the private and other sectors, and someone from outside the Civil Service will chair the Top Level Appointments Committee;

-limiting restrict direct political donations to political parties or candidates to individual Irish citizens and residents only and facilitate a system where donations from private bodies, including businesses and corporations, can be made to a political fund which will be distributed to political parties in accordance with their electoral performance in the previous Dáil election;

-reforming the system of expenses for members of the Oireachtas to ensure the system is transparent, vouched and open to scrutiny, including the regular publication of such expenses. This system will be verified and verifiable;

-reforming local government in Ireland to strengthen the strategic role and function of regional authorities in planning, transport, water and waste management;

-moving from taxes on labour to taxes on resources. That will include site value taxation, a carbon levy and charging for treated water, with a free basic allowance;

-spending twice as much in future on public transport projects as on roads;

-an end to stag hunting and fur farming, and the adoption of the principles and 5 freedoms set out in the Scottish Animal Health and Welfare Act;

-a Climate Change bill that will give a statutory basis to the annual carbon budget to reduce emissions by 3%;

-honouring the commitments to our children given in our 2007 Manifesto with good news on class sizes; Capitation Grants, no third level fees and a referendum on children's rights.

Sure, I'd like to see firmer time-lines and detailed costings, but often political documents are more poetry than prose. The budget will make the costings clearer. Changes in demarcation and work practices can save billions. I think it is a decent Programme, and given that we've implemented half of the original Programme for Government from when the Government was formed over two years ago, I think we should do fine.

October's been a pretty crazy month so far. Let's see how things fare between now and Christmas. As the introduction to the new Programme states:
"Teastaíonn spiorad an Mheitheal anois níos mó ná riamh. Spiorad an chomharsanacht, spiorad an chomhoibriú."

Eleventh Hour

2009-10-08T15:13:00.010+01:00

It's late, and I'm tired.

It's been a tough year for the Country, for the Government and for the Green Party.

This week has been one of the most difficult I've faced in my 27 years in the Party. If we don't conclude talks tomorrow morning with Fianna Fáil on transforming the Programme for Government we walk.

I was on Late Date on RTE Radio One earlier this evening saying all of this. It was curiously cathartic to talk about how I felt and outline where things are at. Our team -Mary White TD, Minister Eamon Ryan and Senator Dan Boyle, have had over forty hours of talks over the last eight days with Ministers Dermot Ahern, Mary Hanafin and Noel Dempsey. I don't know if we can reach agreement. From the start we've been emphasising jobs, political reform and eduction as being key areas where we need to transform this government. There's been progress, but the clock is ticking.

Our membership have called a special convention this Saturday in the RDS in Dublin to decide whether or not we stay in government, and whether or not to support the NAMA legislation. We require a two-thirds majority to stay in government. A motion to vote down NAMA and end our participation in government would also require a two thirds vote. The bar is set high to stay. This will be the fifth time this year that members have met to discuss crucial issues for the Party.

The strains and stress take their toll. At a personal level its becoming increasingly difficult to manage the huge demands that are being made on all of us. There's a balance that has to be struck between family life, responsibilities to the constituency, to the Green Party, and to Government. You can never get it all right, but between the normal demands of a Dáil constituency, the responsibilities to attendance and participation in Dáil committees and votes, and the concerns of the Party it can be a mountain to climb. Oh, and I left out the work life-balance part.

I'm trying to be fairly philosophical about it all, but it's not easy. I really believe that green ideas are crucial to getting us through the current economic and environmental challenges. We've got to move Ireland from the boom-bust buildings and big cars fixation into an Ireland that's better planned with a more diversified economy. It'll involve green jobs - in the digital economy, agriculture, renewable energy, sustainable construction and smarter travel. It will be based on confidence in the political system, investment in education and proper planning. There has to be a move to resource taxes, and away from taxes on labour. I believe the Green Party is best placed to help guide, lead and transform politics through the tough decisions that lie ahead for several years to come.

I met someone from the Labour Party today. She talked about how necessary it is to have Green Party as a force in Irish politics, to tackle energy and climate change issues. I also bumped into a Fianna Fáil back-bencher who spoke in desperation about the need to be relieved from the necessity of almost daily funeral attendances of constituents to allow him to concentrate on policy and legislation. The political system requires systemic reforms.

There's a yearning for so many of the ideas that the Green Party brings to the table, whether it be on environment challenges, local government reform, or matters as simple as Safe Routes to School. Its a tough, tough time to be in Government. The John O'Donoghue issue was the straw that almost broke the camel's back for the Greens. I'm hoping that it will act as a catalyst for all of us to reform, and transform the politics of business as usual.

Politics is never easy. I remember having intense debates and rows twenty-five years ago about whether the Greens should be a campaigning NGO or actually contest elections. We chose the latter, and entered a world that is rarely black or white, and that has many shades of grey. Looking back, I think that was the right choice.

I've been on the phone a lot in the past few days talking with Party members. I'm telling them that if we do get a deal that transforms the Programme for Government, then we'll put it to our members on Saturday and ask them for supoport. I'm saying that the NAMA vote is a tough one, but that we have got changes in the Bill, and there are more to come, and that on balance I believe it is the best option to deal with a banking crisis that was not of our making.

A lot depends on what happens over the next 12, and perhaps 48 hours. I'll try and keep you posted.

We can't fight climate change alone

2009-09-25T09:39:00.007+01:00

The Welcome Inn on Parnell Street seemed like the right place to retire to after a discussion last night on Lisbon in the Institute for International and European Affairs up on North Great Georges Street.

Sean O'Laoire, the President of the Institute of Architects had organised a colloquium to discuss the Lisbon Treaty. Eoin O Cofaigh author of "A Green Vitruvius Sustainable Architectural Design" kicked things off by talking about his work within the Architects Council of Europe and the European Forum for Architectural Policies. After that Ruairi Quinn, Frank McDonald and myself spoke for a few minutes each, followed by contributions from the floor.

Eoin pointed out the Secretary General of the European Commission is an Irish women, Catherine Day, and that her predecessor was Irish as well. I thought that neatly tackled the concern that Ireland will find it hard to have influence in Brussels.

I talked about the economic benefits of Lisbon. The case for greater involvement in the European project has never been stronger: the internal market of 500 million Europeans will be where we’ll export the goods and services that will help our economic recovery and our membership of the euro has provided crucial assistance in our banking crisis.

As an environmentalist, I think we need to remain engaged with Europe because of the lead it has taken on issues such as climate change and energy security. Promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy is a new feature of the European Treaties, contained in Lisbon. There's a cheap shot doing the rounds at the moment that there's only five words ("and in particular combating climate change, At. 191.1) in the Treaty, but actually Lisbon goes much further than that. Article 3 specifies a "high level of protection and improvement of the quality of the environment", and Article 192 builds on Article 191 in specifying how the issues referred to in Art. 191 can be achieved. I like the references to town and country planning in that article; the management of water resources, and measures affecting land use. As John Gibbons points out the EU has been the only show in town on climate for practically the last eight years.

The Treaty also incorporates the Charter of Fundamental Rights, which sets out a range of civil, social and political rights and freedoms recognised by the European Convention on Human Rights and the constitutional traditions of Member States. I think the legally binding nature of it provisions, which will guarantee these rights, is a hugely positive aspect of the Treaty

I spoke about my concerns over Articles 42 and 43 that formalise the European Defence Agency, and particularly the obligation of Member States to offer "aid and assistance by all the means in their power" if an other "Member State is the victim of armed aggression on its territory." I am unhappy with these aspects of the Treaty, but ultimately I believe that the European Union has been the most successful political project on the Continent in the twentieth century. I remember going to France on a school exchange in the 1970s, and listening to children's parents talking about the horror of a war between French and German soldiers. Frank McDonald talked about how the siege of Sarajevo in the early 1990s had lasted longer than the siege of Leningrad, and about how ultimately it was the fighter jets from the United States rather than the European Union that stopped the violence.

Jim Roche of the Irish Anti War Movement spoke from the floor and echoed my concerns. He expressed concern at the presence of European troops in Afghanistan where recently a US CIA drone killed 147 civilians. He also asked why the Treaty didn't give the same emphasis to issues such as education. I pointed out that Article 165 and Art. 166 dealt in detail with education, and that the principle of subsidiarity (some things are better handled by the individual countries) limited the EU's scope in this area. Ruairi pointed out that the EU can't declare war, that a UN mandate is required, and he carefully differentiated the actions of individual member states from the actions of the EU.

The European Council also agreed on a Solemn Declaration on workers’ rights which confirms the high importance that the Union attaches to: social progress and the protection of workers' rights; public services; the responsibility of Member States for the delivery of education and health services; the essential role and wide discretion of national, regional and local authorities in providing, commissioning and organising services of general economic interest.

I spoke about the advances in equality that had come from Europe, and I think European action has ensured and will continue to lead advances for women; people with disabilities, gays and lesbians, and improvements in the environment. The European Commission and the European Courts have been to the fore in protecting the vulnerable.

Time was running out and I wasn't able to talk about the legal guarantees which clarify that nothing in the Lisbon Treaty makes any change of any kind, for any Member State, to the extent or operation of the Union’s competences in relation to taxation; the Lisbon Treaty does not affect or prejudice Ireland’s traditional policy of neutrality – it confirms that there the Lisbon Treaty does not create a European army, nor does it provide for conscription; and nothing in the Lisbon Treaty or the Charter of Fundamental Rights affects in any way the scope and applicability of the provisions of the Irish Constitution relating to the protection of the right to life, family and education. |Some people have belittled these guarantees, but I feel if you're doing that you might as well make light of the Good Friday Agreement! I also think the guarantees the Government sought and got on abortion, taxation and neutrality will help clarify the decision in people’s minds. These are all matters for the Irish people to decide, not the EU. If we vote Yes, we’ll keep our Commissioner which will give the Government a direct line to the top table in Brussels.

After the debate we walked down the road to the Welcome Inn, a pub that hasn't changed since it was rebuilt after the Dublin Bombings in 1974. Being the day that was in it we continued the discussion over several pints of Arthur's finest, to celebrate Guinness's 250th anniversary

I believe the presence of the European Union has allowed us to get over the historical challenge of getting on with one neighbouring country with which we've had an uneasy relationship for 800 years. I'm amused that it took a referendum to get Sinn Féin to put a Union Jack on their posters, to illustrate their concerns about a loss of voting strength in Europe. To be honest, I'm happy about Ireland's voting strength in Europe post Lisbon. I believe that an elegant formula has been found to ensure that smaller nations are well represented, and I believe we're well capable of punching way above our weight. As we downed pints of a local brew that has become a global brand I felt proud to a Dubliner, proud to be Irish and proud to be part of a European Union that continues to change, adapt and progress to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century.

I'm voting yes on Friday October 2nd. I believe the people of Ireland should ratify the Lisbon Treaty.

Lisbon thoughts from ten days out

2009-09-22T22:30:00.013+01:00

It was good to get away from the goldfish bowl of Leinster House last night and knock on doors around Dún Laoghaire, seeking a Yes vote.

There's nothing more valuable than direct feedback from people on their doorstep. Last Friday, I was getting a very strong Yes vote, but last night it was more 2/3 Yes, 1/3 No. Coming from the heart of a constituency that has voted consistently in favour of every European Treaty since 1973 that's worrying. I suspect it's still all to play for at this stage.

People are concerned at the defence aspects of the Treaty and I can't blame them. That phrase about 'improving military capabilities' is a hard one to swallow, and I can understand the concerns expressed to me about this issue. In response I've stated that the European Union has been the most successful peace project that Europe has seen in the twentieth century, and that this can and should continue. I believe the EU force in Chad is a force for good in a volatile region. I believe that on balance, the Treaty is a good one. Did the EU arms industry get the fingerprints on the Treaty? Yes, I think they did, but on balance the emphasis on conflict prevention and peace-keeping trumps their lobbying.

One women mentioned to me her concern about Michael O'Leary's contribution to the Lisbon Debate, and I have to say my heart sank when I heard that he was entering the fray. With friends like that... It is now wonder that the CAEUC are putting up 'No to Ryanair Health Care' posters around town. Michael, go easy. (Although one side of me is looking forward to the Michael O'Leary vs. Declan Ganley debate tomorrow.)

Actually, I felt the most thoughtful observation of the evening came from a women who expressed concern at the lack of respect from each camp for the other side. It is true - the worst thing you can do is blindly criticise the other side, without understanding their motives or their reasons for campaigning.

That's why I did a little bit of archive searching on Richard Greene, spokesperson for the Cóir campaign. I got a shiver down my spine when I saw that Cóir is using a quote from my blog on their homepage where I had stated that "Cóir hit the ground running, the monkeys worked." I remember Richard Greene from his period in the Green Party, and I had a look through the Irish Times digital archive to see where he is coming from.

One of my memories is of him telling a great environmental campaigner Mary O'Donnell from West Cork to shut up and sit down at a Green Party Conference, and I also remember him as holding anti-Traveller views. I had forgotten that he had been In Fianna Fáil before he joined the Greens and that he also set up his own political party in the mid 1990s. In the late 1980's he campaigned against the extradition of those who conspired to murder the Northern Secretary Tom King.

In 1990 he was on the executive of Irish National Congress, the aims of which were to seek Irish freedom, unity and peace, seek British withdrawal from Northern Ireland, full access to Irish culture and neutrality. Shortly afterwards he joined the Green Party and was elected in the 1991 local elections.

Later that year, when The Rape Crisis Centre expressed concern about their lack of funding he wrote to the Irish Times to state that "funding for the Rape Crisis Centre above that authorised by the Minister was not a priority for the Eastern Health Board."

In 1992 he wrote to the papers to state his concern that Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution might be up for ‘barter’, and accused the British of occupying part of the National territory. Later that year he was reported as having called for street demonstrations against the ‘murderous’ decision of the Supreme Court in (an) abortion case. By this stage Trevor Sargent stated that “It is no secret that Mr. Greene is marching to a different tune to the other Green Party Councillors, and has put down motions on Travellers and 1916 which have embarrassed them." In March of that year he was writing to the Irish Times seeking to undo the ‘evil wrought by these supposedly learned judges.” He wasn't above picketing judges' home, either. In April he resigned from the Green Party, claiming it was a "totally dangerous totalitarian party which did not allow its members free speech."

Later that year he became Chairman of the Friends of Youth Defence, and later that year of the National Right to Life Federation. He also appeared as the head of the Christian Centrist Party, and ran unsuccessfully in Dublin South. At their candidate launch their chairman Matt Ascough stated that the party “takes its principles when making legislation from the Gospels.”

In 1993 he tried to stop then Minister Howlin from launching an AIDS education ad that contained the “erroneous message that the use of condoms would help to reduce the spread of AIDS." He lost a Court Action. In that year he also supported all rezonings on Dublin County Council.

In 1994 he was identified as the head of a new political party Muintir na hEireann. At the time of the Maastricht Treaty he stated “On June the Second a death occurred. Maastricht died. Maastricht is going to be buried on June 18th. We beat the Danes in 1014, and we can do it again on June 18th”.

Later that year he wrote to the papers, concerned that "population control lobbyists have penetrated the UN’s policy-making committees. More people means more economic activity and more markets, and less people obviously means less markets and declining economic activity."

In a subsequent letter wearing his hat as Chairman of Muintir na hEirinn he viewed Youth Defence as "the great hope and future of the pro-life movement in this country …(we) continue to support Youth Defence in order to help it become even more effective in the struggle to keep the evil of abortion out of Ireland."

In 1995 wearing his anti-divorce hat he demanded that Jewish members of the Oireachtas be sensitive to the majority Christian view in the Country.

Cóir's spokesperson Richard Greene has used various political parties to further his nationalistic, anti-traveller, pro-life, right-wing views. He is a serial rezoner and party joiner. It is important that we know about his chequered past.

Cóir states that their concerns are wages, jobs and taxes.I don't believe that this is the case and I believe they should state where their real interest lies. Last year the mask slipped when they issued a leaflet claiming that under the Lisbon Treaty, the European Court and the Charter of Fundamental Rights could force Ireland to change its laws on issues such as prostitution, abortion, drugs and euthanasia. They also warned of changes in "how we raise and educate our children".

Tellingly under the "Who we are" section of Cóir's website they neglects to give the names of anyone in their organisation. I suspect that Mr. Greene is at the heart of the Cóir project.

Doing Nothing is not an Option

2009-09-09T12:30:00.010+01:00

1597 pages worth of reports. I'm swamped.

They're coming out my ears, and starting to take over over the desk. 136 pages of NAMA, 388 pages of the Lisbon Treaty, 397 pages of the McCarthy Report and 551 pages of the Commission on Taxation. Oh, and the Kenny Report from 1973, 125 pages: That's a lot of reading.

The current crisis is a huge challenge, but it is also an opportunity to address the 'never again' side to the property bubble. I'm fairly confident that we'll strike the right balance on paying a fair price for the NAMA loans. Improving regulation and ensuring the mistake of 110% mortgages is not repeated is also part of the necessary reforms.

A key challenge lies in removing the incentive to rezone land for all the wrong reasons. Some Planning Authorities around the Country zoned enough land in the last few years to take care of growth for the next 60 years. iIn doing so they accelerated the bubble's expansion , and facilitated sprawl. It is now time to row back on those rezonings and capture the betterment that flows from rezoning decisions. In 2004 the Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution (Ninth Report, p143) endorsed Kenny's conclusions from thirty years previously and outlined four mechanisms for recouping betterment: development levies; planning gain; taxation (such as a site value tax) and compulsory acquisition for the public good. If NAMA is approved we'll be going well down the road to implementing the latter, but it was disappointing that the Commission on Taxation recommended an annual property tax rather than a site value tax. Don't get me wrong - I feel a shift away from the boom-time tax of stamp duty on property is long overdue, but taxing rezoned land (as well as property) would be a decent incentive to stop bad rezonings in the first place. However at this stage much of the damage is done, and we should be discouraging future inappropriate rezonings by placing an annual tax on undeveloped rezoned land.

An end to stamp duty on property transactions could encourage people to move to a home that's suitable for their needs, whether it be older persons down-sizing, or younger people avoiding a 70 mile commute by living closer to where they're working. You do need a decent lead-in period, particularly for people who have already forked out chunks of cash on stamp duty in recent years.

There is still an irrational belief amongst local authority members in the major parties that rezoning land will bring back the goose that laid the golden egg f in the years leading up to 2007. Removing the propensity to rezone would allow County Councils to concentrate on providing decent services. Neither George Lee nor Enda Kenny have sufficiently acknowledged the need to rein in the rezoning tendencies of their more maverick councillors, although both Noel Dempsey and his predecessor Michael Smith drew attention to bad planning while in office. Both the NAMA legislation and the Planning Bill that is under preparation can address this issue.

Carbon pricing is contentious. What we've been doing to the environment with carbon emissions up to now is similar to what Bernie Madoff did with his investors, and that's why we need to start picking up the tab. Carbon charging will also have its own teething pains, and I thought Oisín Coughlan from Friends of the Earth did a great job debating carbon taxes with that Daily Mail journalist on Pat Kenny yesterday. Eamon Timmins from Age Action is right in saying that vulnerable older people must be protected from higher fuel prices, and that's where providing cash for upgrading the insulation and heating systems of older peoples homes comes in. However I disagree with Gerry Mullins where he argues that a carbon tax on bus and coach diesel would be a 'greenwash'. Once you start lashing around exemptions, where do you stop? In any event, buses are streets ahead on fuel efficiency compared to cars, and a carbon levy will favour public transport, as well as greener cars.

Charging for water, as recommended by Frank Daly's Commission on Taxation will be a political hot potato over the months ahead. Our view has always been that people should receive a basic allowance, but that a charge should apply for excessive use. If you're filling a swimming pool, washing the car every week, or leaving a tap running then you should pay for it. It's crazy that there's absolutely no incentive to change a broken washer on a leaking tap if you're piped up to a municipal water supply. Some form of charging might allow us to avoid the proposal doing the rounds to pipe water from the Shannon all the way across Ireland to the east coast. Let's conserve water and use it wisely instead of building bigger pipes half-way across the country.

We're heading off for our annual think-in to Athlone for a few days before the new Dáil session, before a members' conference on Saturday. We've a meeting of the Parliamentary Party on Thursday, and meetings with our group of Councillors on Friday. All of these reports will figure in our deliberations. One things is certain, doing nothing is not an option. Let the sleigh-ride begin!

Fireworks and Festivals

2009-08-27T16:11:00.012+01:00

Back at work this week after a holiday down in Galicia in Spain. It's a magical slightly Celtic part of the world, prone to rain and wind, and everywhere we went there seemed to be wind turbines on the hilltops. We took the slow travel option of a ferry from Portsmouth in England across the Bay of Biscay to Santander, and the journey there was half the fun.

Meanwhile here the NAMA debate has intensified, and it's straight back into the discussion as to what is the best option for Irish tax-payers and the Irish people. As the IMF stated:

"The success of NAMA will depend on a number of very complex decisions that will need to be taken in designing it during the course of the coming months and then in its implementation."

I waded my way through the Heads of the Bill with James Nix and Gary Fitzgerald the other day. We discussed the valuation issues at length, as this is crucial. Writing down the loans to a realistic level from the stratospheric level that they reached at the height of the boom must be at the heart of the legislation.

I was interested in Fintan O'Toole's piece in the Irish Times the other day about NAMA versus the Kenny Report. I sat on the All Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution as it considered property rights, and the Green Party's submission endorsed the views of Justice Kenny's report from 1973 which recommended that Local Authorities should be able to buy land in specific areas for the existing use value plus 25%. I don't believe that both proposals are mutually exclusive, as I'd imagine that the bulk of development lands have already undergone a massive write-down that brings their value a lot closer to agricultural use. In essence the green field lands will only constitute a small share of the value of the loans that the State may acquire. I'd imagine the real value will lie in assets located in cities such as Dublin, London, and in the United States. Perhaps this is related to the on-going High Court discussions relating to Liam Carroll's Zoe group. I'm hopeful that some of the work that is underway on the Planning Bill will address some of the issues raised by Justice Kenny one third of a century ago.

The challenge for those who reject NAMA is to propose a viable alternative that could cost Ireland less in the long run. The recent contributions by Brian Lucey, Alan Ahearne and other economists to the debate are hugely useful. I'm heartened that Alan Ahearne seemed to call the bubble for what it was earlier than others. One of my concerns about full nationalisation is that it has the potential to raise the interest rate at which Ireland borrows money abroad.

NAMA is only one of the challenges that lies ahead over the next three or four months. We also have the McCarthy Report, the Commission on Taxation, the Programme for Government Review, and Lisbon Two. Each issue in itself will generate heat, and hopefully light inside and outside the Green Party. As Eamon Ryan said the other day, there's a fascinating 100 days of politics ahead. NESC suggested back in March that we need an integrated approach to Ireland's Five-Part Crisis in banking, public finance, Ireland's reputation, and in the economic and social field. I tend to agree.

Meanwhile in Dún Laoghaire the long term weather forecast (as I write) is looking good (if a bit showery) for the Festival of World Cultures this weekend. Trevor is coming out to talk about food at Cool Earth in the County Hall on Saturday at 2.30 pm, and on Sunday, there's a first in the line-up - the Climate Change comedians at 3.45pm!

Looking at the line-up I'd say Dub Colossus at 6.30pm Saturday on the Main Stage at Newtownsmith (between the East Pier and Sandycove) should be amazing, and the following day Oumou Sangare from Mali in the same slot is bound to impress. Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council is the main backer of the Festival which has gone from strength to strength in recent years. They're also organising the Mountains to the Sea book festival from 10th to 13th September.

Between culture and politics there'll be more than enough festivals and fireworks to keep us busy, and entertained over the months ahead.

A milestone on the Road to Equality

2009-07-07T21:48:00.007+01:00

Sure, it's not marriage, but it IS progress.

The Programme for Government stated:

"This Government is committed to full equality for all in our society. Taking account
of the options paper prepared by the Colley Group and the pending Supreme Court
case, we will legislate for Civil Partnerships at the earliest possible date in the lifetime
of the Government."

We argued during the negotiations with Fianna Fail two years ago that the principles enshrined in the Green Party's policy document on Marriage and Partnership Rights should become law. Simply removing the references to gender in Irish law could have been a neat way of providing equality, but these matters are never easy. Instead reference was made to the Colley Report, and the legislation that finally saw the light of day in late June is expected to pass through the Oireachtas in the Autumn.

I sat on the All Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution for several years - the name of the Committee is enough to put you asleep - and in that time we discussed family rights at great length. I was taken aback by the conservatism of many Committee members in our deliberations. In particular when we got to talking about Article 41.3.1

"The State pledges to guard with special care the institution of Marriage, on which the Family is founded, and to protect it against attack. "

I argued that time had moved on, and that in an age when a quarter of births are outside of marriage we should protect the family, and marriage separately, but failed to get majority support. Along with Jan O'Sullivan and Arthur Morgan we proposed an addition that read

"The state also recognises and respects family life not based on marriage. All persons, irrespective of their marital status, have a right to family life. The Oireachtas is entitled to legislate for the benefit of such families and of their individual members.

However this wording was only included as a minority proposal, and hasn't moved forward. Social change often moves at a snail's pace within Leinster House.

One significant change that is included in the Bill, though is the cohabitation scheme. Dr. Carol Coulter called this "the most radical family law development since divorce came in" and Dr. Fergus Ryan has commented that this "represents real and substantial progress in the recognition and protection of non-traditional families." This provides automatic recognition of those who live together after three years (two if they have children together) and will allow qualified cohabitants (that's a bit of a mouthful) who are economically dependent on each other to apply for court orders if the relationship ends.

I had a good chat with Dermod Moore from Hotpress following the Bill's publication. He's mad as hell that my press release welcomed the Civil Partnership Bill, and that I see it as a step in the right direction.

I said to him what I've said to MarriagEquality: it is crucial that people lobby the conservative forces that exist in every party that are blocking equality if they wish to see further progress. Only one couple have sat down in my Constituency office, looked me in the eye and demanded full equality. I'd say to anyone that reads this post and that wants full equality, that they should sit down with at least one member of the Oireachtas in their office (preferably the more conservative ones) and explain what they want. Meeting a TD, or Senator face to face is the best way of changing their hearts and minds.

That having been said, I do feel that the appalling revelations in the Ryan Report, and no doubt in the forthcoming Dublin Arch-Diocese Report may encourage a fresh look at the strong Christian ethos in the Constitution, and perhaps move us further towards a secular State. Dermod also tweeted me the link to polls cited by MarriageEquality that show growing support for marriage for Gay and Lesbian people, so maybe the tide is turning.

There was a good group of Green Party members marching at Dublin Pride this year, (here's a clip I recorded) and I didn't see too much sign of representation from the two larger parties in the State amongst the ten thousand people that were there. We're proud of the progress that is contained within the Bill, and we expect it to pass through Committee later on this year.

We're still looking for full equality, and that won't happen overnight, but it will happen if you lobby your politicians.

I'd recommend the 'Take Action' page from Marriagequality as a starting point.

Crawling from the wreckage

2009-06-16T15:08:00.007+01:00

Ouch, that hurt!

It's small comfort, but it was great to meet up with Garret Fitzgerald and Mick Rafferty in the RTÉ Election studio in Donnybrook as the votes were being counted on Saturday 6th June.

Mick took over on Dublin City Council after Tony Gregory stepped down, and after a few years he passed on his seat to Maureen O'Sullivan who was in the process of being elected to the Dáil that Saturday that we were in studio. Mick is a real renaissance man, and compared to his work as an activist, organiser and Thespian I suspect that the minutiae of Dublin City Council's Traffic sub-Committee didn't quite engage him sufficiently. Garret was in fine form, and had several tomes of results from elections past with him, and almost every number on each page had his own annotations about the particular results.

It was a rough result for the Green Party and it is tough not to have representation for the next five years on Dublin and Dún Laoghaire Councils. There's enormous scope in the capital to deliver on Green Party policies, and it hurts to be sit so hard within the Pale. We have achieved a considerable amount in the Departments that fall under control of Green Ministers, but there wasn't enough airspace to make that point in the recent campaign. People were mad as hell about the wasted opportunities of the boom years and while Fianna Fáil were taking the brunt of the kick, we were also a target.

We could walk away from government, and unless there's greater delivery of Green Party policies, particularly in areas of responsibility that don't fall directly under our control I think we should. The failure to publish the Civil Unions legislation before the Local and European elections definitely cost us votes. There's other areas where we have to ramp up Green Party policy delivery. Another round of significant cuts is on the cards in the December budget, and unless we see reforms within education, health and social welfare, it would be hard to stand over additional billions being pared from their budgets.

I'm hoping that the Commission on Taxation's Report which is due out in July makes the case for radical changes in how we fund local government. I want to see local authorities given financial autonomy, and that may well be proposed. Some form of residential charge may be needed to replace the windfall receipts that we got from stamp duty during the boom years. I also want to see a climate change levy, and an assurance that any such charge will be poverty-proofed. The home energy grants are already creating jobs, and there's huge potential to ramp up and expand that programme to ensure that people on lower incomes have their homes well insulated and draught-proofed.

Speaking of reform, that's the theme of next week's Leviathan gig down at the Button Factory. I'll be speaking on the theme of Does Ireland Now Need Radical Political Reform?" along with Killian Forde, Noel Dempsey and that McWilliams fellah.

It's on Wednesday next 24th June 2009 at 8pm, so if the Government loses the usual 8.30 private members business vote next week, you can blame the Greens.

Thoughts from the hustings in Dún Laoghaire

2009-06-04T00:15:00.010+01:00

Finally, It's Election Day.

That's one of my favourite pics from the Campaign - Cllr. Ruairí Holohan buying 5c lemonade from some sharp business women in Carysfort Park in Blackrock, just a stone's throw from the Smurfit Business School. It was real lemonade, complete with pips.

That was the day it hit 25 degrees in the shade, and was much appreciated. Over a drink in Tonic on Temple Road later on that evening I tried to persuade Ruairí not to climb the old diving platform at Blackrock Baths to put a poster on the top, but I sensed I wouldn't win the argument.

Here I am in the back of Cllr. Tom Kivlehan's van on Corbawn lane in Shankill. It was like an oven in there yesterday, and you couldn't see a thing, as you tried to hold on through the mini-roundabouts.

Tom can eventually win over almost anyone at the doors:
-"Look, it's between Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin and myself for the last seat. You need a green voice on the Council."

Unfortunately, by the time he's done this, the rest of us have the entire road completed, but tenacity is vital part of any councillors' work. Tom's brother-in-law is a printer and that gave us a very nice turn-around for last minute leaflets last Wednesday.

That last pic is of Cllr. Gene Feighery and some of her crew at around nine o'clock last night in Dalkey. Our smile's are a bit Queen Motherish, but that's got to be expected in the last hour of a campaign. Gene's husband Aidan used his management skills to arrange for a 12,000 print run of "Why Me?" newsletters to be distributed around her ward yesterday morning and I'm sure they'll swing a few wavering voters.

Clearly under the influence of Tom, I had a long wonderful conversation at a door in Dalkey last night. An elderly women - Eithne Doog had memories of my grandmother, which was quite extraordinary, as she would have died around 1963, the year I was born.

We ended up in Finnegans Pub in Dalkey afterwards for refreshment.That's where the fun started. Trevor Patton (The Patton Flyer candidate) and his crew appeared to have lost their way while canvassing pubs from early on that evening, and were in fine form. "Fight for your flights" is his slogan, not the most compatible with the Green Party's founding principles, but he was buying and we didn't complain. His other tag line is equally compelling: "If you can't beat them, join them, ... then beat them."

His mates were taking bets on how many votes he'd get. I put €5 on Trevor getting 273 votes, so we'll see how that pans out. If Patton is elected it'll be the first time on the face of it that a bus has won an election, but stranger things have happened in Irish politics. I like the way his flyers (Patton Flyer, boom, boom) have the timetable printed on one side. He reckons he's got about €50,000 worth of free advertising from his campaign. Hmmm. Several photos were taken as the night wore on, but hopefully none of them will see the light of day. All of his crowd had the whole cauliflower rosettes thing going on with red and green colours and goldy writing "Vote Trevor" which was a bit confusing towards the end of the evening. I summed it up as being a curious mix of Mayo meets the Tories in the Shires circa 1972, but I liked his style.

Today's relatively quiet. A few phone calls, a clatter of emails, and hopefully a trip to the movies this evening.

Good luck to all our candidates out there, I wish you well.

Walking in sunshine

2009-06-02T17:33:00.008+01:00

Sixty hours until the polls open, more or less, and only mad dogs and candidates are braving the midday sun.

It's hot on the Dún Laoghaire Riviera, damn hot. Factor 50 all round this week, short-sleeved shirts, and 24 degrees in the shade. I'm avoiding the baseball cap though, as William Hague and George W. aren't exactly role models.

Broken windows, homelessness, dog dirt, selective mutism, the 45 bus. You see, and hear it all. One of the real challenges of politics is being able to absorb the extremes of views that you experience from one doorway to the next. Someone who works for Anglo-Irish tells me that he's taken to describing himself as a civil servant when people asks him what he does. Another is worried about noise from a partying neighbour.

These pix are from a few weeks ago when we had a whistle-stop tour with John Gormley and Deirdre de Burca through the Dún Laoghaire Dáil constituency. That's Cllr. Ruairí Holohan in the top photo, along with John Gormley walking on water in the middle of Dublin Bay. Deirdre de Burca, our candidate for Dublin is in the background. Karin Dubsky from Coastwatch Ireland had invited John out to Booterstown Strand to celebrate Biodiversity Day, and watch oyster spat being released.

John took a lift in Ruairí's electric Reva car to Blackrock where we chatted away to people on the Main Street before hopping on a DART to Dún Laoghaire to catch up with Cllr. Gene Feighery . We walked along Georges Street to Sandycove Glasthule, where I think we canvassed an unfortunate woman three times on the stretch of road between the Shopping Centre and the People Park. We kept passing her out and then dropping back. The good news was she started off promising us a number 3, and we got her to a number one on the basis that we'd stop tormenting her and get back on the DART, which is what we eventually did.

In Shankill we walked down to the end of Corbawn Lane to have a look at coastal erosion. The railway has had to be moved back twice in the course of the twentieth century to avoid being washed away, and yet there are still some councillors who want to rezone lands by the water's edge. Dubious rezonings have plagued Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council over the years. I was glad to see that Cllr. Tony Fox was refused a nomination from Fianna Fáil. Apparently he received money from Frank Dunlop, but I was saddened to see that he's put his name forward as an independent candidate. In Shankill our candidate is Cllr. Tom Kivlehan (pictured to my left). Tom has stood up to those who wish to rezone the lands beside Clontra House, on the water's edge.We had a mellow couple of hours listening to people's concerns as people came and went from the local Spar. The Ryan Report had just come out, and people were absorbing the horror that it documents. Perhaps some sort of Truth and Reconciliation Commission is needed to fully address the contents of the Report.

Finally a couple of recommendations: Claire Wheeler is running for the Greens in Dublin's South Inner City ward, and has a long track record in providing for communities. She's an engineer by background, and called for a clean and sparkling Dublin Bay long before many others supported the cause. I'd say give your second preference to Mannix Flynn, not for his awesome poster, but for his wealth of experience, as well as his artistic and literary integrity.

In the North Inner City, David Geary is our candidate. Dave lives in Stonybatter, and works in wind energy. I'm hoping people will give their second preference to Patrick Maphoso, who I almost persuaded to run for the Greens five years ago. It's not that often that you can someone with a strong track record with the ANC a vote!

Ups and downs on the campaign trail

2009-05-19T16:27:00.007+01:00

"Hey Mister"
-"Just a second"
I'm at the top of a ladder, half-way up a pole trying to feed one plastic poster-tie into another on Deirdre de Burca's poster. Finally it catches and I pull it tight.
"Mister"
-"I'll be with you in a second!"
I thread the plastic tie through the lower part of the poster. Once you've locked the poster-tie in, it can resist gale force winds, if done correctly. I clamp the end of plastic tie between my teeth and pull hard. Not exactly ideal from a health and safety perspective, but it does the job. Finally, I finish securing the poster, and climb down the ladder.
-"Mister"
"Yes?
-"Mister, your poster is upside-down.
"@#*%~!"
I walk back to the car, and take out a kitchen knife reserved for these occasions. It's started to rain again, the kind of rain we've had for the last two weeks - first one or two drops, then a downpour. Back up the ladder, knife in my mouth doing a fair impersonation of Captain Jack Sparrow getting ready to repel boarders. I'm at the top of the ladder, and spend a few minutes trying to ease the poster ties apart with the tip of the knife so that I can re-use the ties. Eventually I give up and attempt to sever the tie to release the poster. As I cut through the plastic there's a loud bang and a bright yellow flash. The knife falls and I slide down the ladder faster than a sailor in one of those World War Two films just after the torpedo hits the ship. Unlike our candidate Martin Hogan a few weeks ago, I'm still in one piece. I look back up the lamp post and as I do there's another flash and a puff of smoke from the electrical junction box half-way up the pole.
"Hey Mister"
-"Yeh"
"That's deadly, it is, can you do it again?"
It's time to move on, and find a safer lamppost for Deirdre de Burca's poster.

-

That photo shows Cllr. Gene Feighery and Cllr. Ruairí Holohan on the stump on the Blackrock Bypass last Friday. They're giving out Hazel tree nuts and saplings as part of Ruairí's 'Brown Envelope' campaign. It's brought a smile to people's faces, and is the kind of soft sell that works well as part of wider campaign. Ruairí also has a good pitch at the doors:

"Look, I'm not going to talk about the recession, I can talk to you about Home Energy Grants, or the Gardening course that we're running in Blackrock.

It seems to be working well, by all accounts. He also told our monthly Green Party meeting in Dún Laoghaire that he's been dropping apple pies in to every convent in his ward with 'Green Party' written on the plate, and then drops by to collect the plate a few days later, and tries to persuade them to use their land for allotments.

Cllr. Gene Feighery, represents Dún Laoghaire, and has been pointing out that the Greens are good on planning. Gene was a founder member of CRSOS (the Combined Residents to Save Open Space) an NGO that campaigned to prevent the rezoning of the Dún Laoghaire Golf Club lands. It may well be that this green lung within Dún Laoghaire won't be developed in the short term, but it is important that a Local Area Plan is drawn up to guide development in the town. She's often seen in her electric car around the town.

Tom Kivlehan is our councillor for Shankill and Ballybrack. He dragged me up to Sandyford Luas stop a few weeks ago to take a photo beside a Luas so that we could photoshop 'Sandyford' out of the sign and substitute 'Shankill'. When the Luas gets to Cherrywood early next year, Tom will be clearing the scrub off the old Harcourt Street line to make sure it gets to Shankill and Bray a few years later. On a more practical note, he succeeded in getting the Council to shift their electricity supply to a renewable supplier.

-

It may be a European and Local Election, but it is clear that many are thinking about national issues as they consider how to cast their vote in two weeks time. Few people disagree that John Gormley and Eamon Ryan are doing good work in their respective ministries. Tough decisions are being taken to ensure Ireland weathers the worldwide economic storm. Already it seems clear that the recovery is green. New jobs are being created in energy, in construction, in transport and in agriculture. Many of these are in areas of the sustainability sector that didn't exist a few years ago, or have a green hue to their complexion. One thing is sure though, the economy that was too dependent on laissez-faire construction and SUV car sales has changed, and the new green collar jobs will shape Ireland's future.

-

Thanks to all you new media people for dropping in to the Oireachtas last week. My relatively tidy office that some of you saw last week has again disintegrated into squalor. I think both John Gormley, Deirdre de Burca and Damian Connon enjoyed the opportunity to talk candidly about their work. Thanks Dharragh Boyle, Mark Coughlan, Damian Mulley, Gav Reilly, Thaedydal and others for coming along. You all seem to have enjoyed your experience of the madness that constitutes the Houses of the Oireachtas.

This just in...

2009-04-30T17:41:00.002+01:00

Made it along to the briefing in the Science Gallery at lunchtime today.

Great discussion of the issues, with a large crowd.

Meanwhile I just got a timely reply to my Question to the Minister for Health...

QUESTION NO: 116

DÁIL QUESTION addressed to the Minister for Health and Children (Ms. Harney (Dublin Mid-West))
by Deputy Ciarán Cuffe
for WRITTEN ANSWER on 30/04/2009

* To ask the Minister for Health and Children the type, brand and number of units of anti-viral medicines available to deal with a possible pandemic in view of the outbreak of swine flu in Mexico and elsewhere; and if she will make a statement on the matter.

Ciarán Cuffe T.D.

REPLY.
Stocks of antivirals sufficient to treat 47% of the population are currently stockpiled.
We have one million courses of adult dosage Tamiflu; 177,958 of 30mg paediatric capsules; 51,549 of 45mgs paediatric capsules and 706,000 courses of Relenza in stock for an Influenza Pandemic.
Recommendations for the stockpiling of antivirals are kept under constant review by the Pandemic Influenza Expert Group. The quantity of antivirals in stock or on order is enough to treat almost 2 million people. This compares very favourably with other countries across Europe and beyond.

This NAMA business

2009-04-24T10:29:00.008+01:00

The Tree of Gold or Crann an Óir sculpted by Eamon O'Doherty in 1991 stands outside the Central Bank's Headquarter Building on Dame Street in Dublin. The bronze tree (not gold) is overshadowed by a curious piece of granite clad concrete that overshadows its leaves. Perhaps it's an appropriate metaphor for the way that construction and speculation took over during the boom years. Indeed the building itself designed by the late high-flying architect Sam Stephenson was built some 10 metres higher than the the drawings submitted in its planning permission, a fact only noticed apparantly when the city planning officer looked out from his office which was then just across Fownes Street, and scratched his head at the mismatch between the plans and the building.

The Irish Green Party's Housing Policy, adopted in 2004 pointed out that "land speculation and the hoarding of zoned land have distorted the housing market and impeded the provision of affordable housing" and stated that the Government needed to "progressively limit the amount of money that lending institutions can lend for house purchase in order to reduce the price of housing." Back then we were in opposition, now we're in Government. We didn't cause the problem, but we are working hard to clean up the mess and get 'Ireland Inc.' back onto an even keel.

The National Assets Management Agency (NAMA) will be used to consolidate and stabilise our banking and property sector. It will be the largest property owner and developer in the State. It is crucial that the regulation and overview of NAMA is free from undue political interference, once it is up and running. I'm glad to see a health debate emerging about the foundation of NAMA. A glance at the Irish Times Opinion piece 'Nationalising banks is the best option' last Friday might make you feel that an incorrect decision has been made, but I'm not convinced. Twenty economists put their names to the piece, and the line-up included many of the heavy-hitters from the UCD Economics Department. As a a piece of rough and ready research I went over to the excellent IrishEconomy website and checked to see how many of their contributors had signed the piece. Only 5 of the 29 had put their names to the irish Times piece. Of course its highly likely that many of them weren't asked to, but still, it wasn't quite a flood.

Nationalisation would still appear to require the same amount of capital as NAMA, so I don't feel it jumps off the page as neat solution. I'd also be a little bit wary of the Department of Finance being put in charge of six major banks. In addition, there's also advantages to allowing some semblance of a real, rather than a full state market to operate in the price of land. There are strong arguments being made in the middle of this economic storm for more and more state intervention and control, but unless this is done at arms' length from the Oireachtas, it will be open to charges of political control.

One of the crucial and positive steps that must be taken, though is to remove the hope value of land that seems almost ingrained in the Irish psyche. That may be happening anyway, to judge from a piece of land a few miles out the road from Sligo that sold for six million a few years ago, and that more recently changed hands for €500,000. However a colleague pointed out that in Catalonia, they have mapped and zoned (in a good way) that entire region of Spain, so that developers know what the development potential is of every patch of land before it is sold. That clearly leads to better planning decisions, more certainty, and more buy-in from local communities. There's still far too many County Managers here in Ireland granting permission for rural business parks, and having their decisions overturned by An Bord Pleanála.

NAMA will have to maximise the value of its loan book and the underlying assets in the interests of the State and tax payer. I'm hoping that transparency and smart planning might allow us to look beyond a very narrow fiscal definition of maximising, and ensure that the best use is made of all assets. That could mean converting a hotel close to a hospital into step down beds, or producing a proper planning scheme for lands adjacent to a railway line before it opens so as to maximise value and sustainability, rather than selling off the four green fields for face value. For starters they'll need to prioritise sites for development according to the National Spatial Strategy.

Things are moving fast though. NAMA has a website, and they seem to be hiring from what I can see on their home page.

College Green Bus Gate

2009-04-01T18:34:00.003+01:00

I missed an interview on Newstalk's lunchtime show with Eamon Keane today.

I was supposed to be discussing the possibility of a car scrappage scheme. As it happened, I was stuck in the boardroom of Buswell's Hotel across the road from Leinster House with a bunch of car dealers. (Is 'clutch' the collective noun?) I came out and there was 11 missed calls and 7 new messages on the phone. I had missed the interview. I did get a chance to talk about it on Q102 later on, and while not quite going as far as George Monbiot, I did say that a car scrappage scheme did not make sense. I don't believe that we should be putting scarce resources into the non-productive economy.

If money is scarce, let's use it to build Metro North. Each individual station on that line would be in the top ten list of building sites in the State. The project would generate thousands of jobs in construction, and would lower our carbon footprint and create many jobs during operation. Dublin needs a high capacity north-south public transport backbone. It could even continue south as far as Bray via the Luas green line.

Meanwhile on the subject of improving public transport, it's about time that we gave buses the priority that they deserve through the centre of Dublin. It's not fair that buses get stuck behind SUVs heading for the Brown Thomas Car park. If we want buses that keep to a schedule we've got to ensure that they don't get snarled up in traffic in College Green behind these kind of lines of cars. Currently it can 40 minutes or 10 minutes for a 46A to get from Parnell Square to Stephen's Green. No wonder people says buses aren't reliable.

The info on the bus gate is here on Dublin City Council's site, but you've missed the consultation period which ended last Friday. Here's the Green Party's PR on the matter. I'll get around to putting our submission on line soon.

I had a chat with Fergus O'Dowd Fine Gael's Transport Spokesperson today and he agreed with me. I was on radio yesterday with his colleague Cllr. Paddy McCartan who sits on Dublin City Council and unfortunately he doesn't want to take the cars out of College Green. While I was on radion I had a sense of deja-vu, and then I remembered. I had heard the same arguments about taking cars out of Grafton Street 25 years ago. Scary.

Conor Faughnan has also been discussing the issue, and he's taking the same line as he did with the Stillorgan QBC a decade ago: in favour in theory, but not in practice. Back then even the Chartered Institute of Transport had to tap the AA on the shoulder and politely point out to them the error of their ways. The SIMI wasn't exactly on the side of the angels either, back then, opposing it I suspect in theory, as well as in practice. I actually agree with a lot of what the AA is saying: YES, we need a radical reform of Dublin Bus routes, YES , we need decent cycling lanes as well, but I'm always a bit nervous when the perfect becomes the enemy of the good.

Plus ca change. Tom Coffey from Dublin City Business has a large wish-list of things that have to happen before the bus gate proceeds:

Samuel Beckett Bridge at Macken Street is in place and operational
Bridge at Hawkins Street is in place and operational
Real-time passenger information on all QBCs is in place and operational
Electronic signposting to all 22 car parks in CBD for shoppers is in place and operational
Oral Hearing on Metro North in An Bord Pleanála heard and all appeals to the Courts in Ireland and EU heard and a final judgement issued.

Sometimes you'd tear your hair out.

Tom, people in buses buy things as well.

We'll see how these things pan out. It'll be up to Dublin City Council to make a final decision in a few weeks on the issue.

Release the Pearse Street Two - #Picturegate and all that

2009-03-26T17:17:00.006Z

Thanks Gary for the screenshot from the Simpsons' view of Irish planning as they flew into Ireland for St. Patrick's Day.

This Picturegate business has gone beyond a joke. I've heard on the grapevine that the Guards have pictures of Trevor Sargent and John Gormley in custody in Pearse Street Garda Station, and I think that its high time they were returned to the Artist. It's time to release the Pearse Street Two.

Look, it's beginning to turn into Scrap Saturday on steroids. Sure, we can argue the pros and cons of whether RTE should have run with the prank in the first place, and indeed how they handled the story in the first instance. Personally I don't think it should have involved a full apology the following evening, but this whole sending in the Guards business brings it into the realm of high farce.

Public life is never that easy, but there is always a danger if you take yourself too seriously. It's not exactly a re-run of the Geraldine Kennedy / Bruce Arnold phone tapping episode, but it certainly doesn't look well for guards to be heading off into a radio studio looking for the artist's email addresses. It's probably all a bit too much publicity for the artist Conor Casby, who I'd imagine was only trying to raise the Nation's spirits in the midst of difficult times.

It's worth remembering that political satire has a long history, all the way back to the Greek playwright Aristophanes, and before.

I can only imagine that the Gardaí investigating whether the display of the paintings involved offences such as indecency, incitement to hatred or criminal damage have much better things to be doing with their time, and that's what I feel they should be doing. I feel we're slipping into dangerous territory when a member of the Oireachtas is calling for the Director General of RTE Cathal Goan to consider his position. I just wish RTE had an editor's blog similar to the BBC where we could forensically examine the decision-making process around the screening of the news piece and subsequent apology earlier in the week.

Meanwhile I've just heard that mobile and munchies are to be banned from Dáil Committees. Nothing like a bit of light relief in these troubled times.

The Eastern Bypass is back, and it's nasty

2009-03-22T13:29:00.008Z

I'll write a more opinionated piece tomorrow, but for the moment here's my press release...
Greens say Metro-North a better option than €4Bn. Eastern Bypass

The Green Party has criticised a new report on the Eastern Bypass as being out of touch and out of date. The Report from the National Roads Authority costs the proposed motorway at €4 billion, and proposes the construction of a new bridge across Dublin Bay from the Dublin Port to Booterstown.

Green Party Transport Spokesperson Ciarán Cuffe TD stated:
"This Report lacks any sense of vision for Dublin. Instead it simply throws out more roads as a solution. This approach was out-dated twenty years ago, and it beggars belief that such an approach can still hold currency today.

Local Green Party Election candidate for the South East Inner City Claire Wheeler stated:
"We are facing catastrophic climate change as well as economic depression. Now is not the time to spend on more infrastructure for cars. We need proper public transport. In any case as a tunnel would be prohibitively expensive given the geology, and a bridge would ruin Dublin Bay. Such a bridge would often be closed to traffic due to high winds."

Deputy Cuffe went on to say:
"Instead of more roads in urban areas we must invest in public transport. The Metro-North project between the city centre to Swords, and the rail inter connector between Connolly and Pearse station would allow more people the choice of using high quality public transport and would represent better use of public funds.. The success of the two Luas lines show that if high frequency public transport is provided, it will be well used.

"It is incredible that the NRA can produce a Report almost one hundred pages long in 2009 with only a passing reference to climate change. The Report also acknowledges that the Eastern Bypass may lead to the transfer of people from public transport into cars (Page 79). How many more Reports do we need to show that more roads are not the solution to transport issues in urban areas.

"This report deserves to be binned. I intend writing to my colleague Noel Dempsey, the Minister for Transport, and request him to look again at the terms of reference of the NRA so that this type of approach is not repeated. It is anachronistic that tax-payers money has been spent on such a document.

"Both the Labour Party and Fine Gael supported the Eastern Bypass and inserted it into the Dublin City and Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Development Plans. As both of these Plans are currently being reviewed I call on their their councillors to reconsider their approach and back public transport instead.

Note
The NRA Report may be found on their website at the following link
http://www.nra.ie/News/NewsAnnouncements/htmltext,16121,en.html

Bad Day at Blackrock

2009-03-16T17:12:00.005Z

That got everyone talking.

It looked like a bomb site, but thankfully no-one was seriously injured in the explosion in Blackrock last Friday. By the time I got there, everyone had piled in to Sheehan's pub across the road and was telling each other what had happened, and where they were at the time. I met one women whose brother was walking past St. Anne's Square and was hit by a piece of rubble but luckily he wasn't badly hurt. All she heard was the bang of the explosion, and then the phone went dead. About a dozen cars got caught up in the explosion and the tow-trucks were kept busy.

Someone else told me the story of a women in the house next door who had fallen down the stairs, and had been carted off to Hospital hours BEFORE the explosion with a broken ankle. That was another lucky escape, if you could call it that. Someone else was offering lunch courtesy of the Council for anyone who was living in the Square, and I wouldn't be surprised if a few texts were sent out in a hurry, advertising free lunch in Sheehans.

I met Fr. Eric Conway on the steps outside Blackrock Church, and said to him that his boss was clearly keeping an eye on things from above. Cllr. Ruairí Holohan was talking to the head of the Residents Association, saying that it was "some Friday 13th". County Architect Andreé Dargan was trying to ensure people got back to their homes in St. Anne's Square that evening, or were at least able to retrieve their belongings. Certainly looking at the damage it appeared as though three or four of the buildings will have to be demolished. Hopefully they can rebuild and incorporate the same attention to detailing that you can see on the existing Victorian buildings. They are, or were an attractive part of Blackrock's character.

The Council sent out an update just an hour ago, and I've included it below

"Update: Explosion at house in Temple Hill, Blackrock, Dublin 5.00pm 16/3/09 - The Council can confirm that Bord Gais and An Garda Síochána have completed their initial investigations at the site in Temple Hill, and the Council is continuing with its assessment of the structures. Due to the instability of the buildings, much of the stabilising works must be done by hand. The majority of personal belongings have been removed by residents and the Council has facilitated those tenants and private householders who have been impacted by the explosion with storage facilities. Temple Hill Road remains closed to traffic and it is hoped to have a stop-and-go system in place by Wednesday.
ENDS"

Enjoy St. Patrick's Day, by the looks of things there may even be some sunshine around tomorrow for the Parade.

Towards a Green New Deal in Wexford

2009-03-08T12:35:00.006Z

They'll go far.

That's a snap I took just a few minutes after John Gormley finished his speech to the Green Party's annual convention in White's hotel in Wexford last night. Leading change from within Government has been one of the key themes of the Conference.

Interestingly, for the first time I noticed that there was a fringe event for older Greens yesterday. We are getting older. I'm 45 and I joined the Party 27 years ago, when I was just out of short trousers. It's crucial that the Party continue to pass on the baton to a younger generation. There are a lot of younger candidates running in the local elections, people like Adam Douglas and Niamh Fitzgibbon. I think they'll do well. It is a real challenge though, particularly for smaller Parties to reinvent themselves and not fall into the family dynasties trap. The Progressive Democrats had their difficulties in passing the torch, and Labour will have to work hard to bring on the next generation. Dún Laoghaire continues to have its fair share of poltical dynasties, as does the current cabinet. Some politicians have succeeded in taking over the 'family seat' and creating a seperate identity to the family member who preceded them, but it's always a challenge. One analysis of George W's term in office is that he suffered from the need to finish the war his father started.

New thinking is required though to make the green recovery successful. Political parties like ourselves need to ensure that we continue to attract new ideas, and new blood to the party. We're changing the system from within, but often some of the best thinking can be found far beyond the railings of Government Buildings.

Governance and the Citizen

2009-03-03T15:35:00.007Z

It was one of those hare and the tortoise moments.

I had headed out from the Dáil to peddle up Dame Street to the 'Governance and the Citizen' conference in the Coach House behind Dublin Castle. Halfway down Dame Street I hear this loud roar behind me and a Ferrari shoots past. By the time I arrived at Dublin Castle our pal in the red car was stopped and discussing the lack of a tax or insurance disk with a guard just beside City Hall on Cork Hill. Meanwhile those of us on bicycles (and you can see Duncan Stewart on his trusty stead) arrived in good time for the Conference, although I'm sure Ferrari man perhaps had another destination in mind.

The Conference was about Dubliners and their City, and focused on new thinking on citizen engagement in the governance of cities.

Minister John Gormley discussed the options Government faces in providing a directly elected mayor, as provided for in the Programme for Government that we negotiated with Fianna Fáil almost two years ago. In late 2007 the Green Party responded to the call for submissions and put forward our model of local government reform. The Department of the Environment published their Green Paper on Local Government entitled 'Stronger Local Government Options for Change' last year, and I'm looking forward to a White Paper, followed by legislation some time this year.

I want to see a Metro-Mayor for all of Dublin, including Dún Laoghaire, Fingal, South Dublin and Dublin City. The job specification would include strategic planning for water, sewerage, transport, planning, and development. Checks and balances would be provided by the councillors' annual approval of budgets, and of course this would require that councils had greater financial autonomy from central government. If you liked the mayor's track record over five years then you'd re-elect her. If weren't impressed, she'd lose her job. Currently we have a revolving door with mayors in each council selected by their fellow councillors. They only serve a twelve month term of office, and mostly have more of a 'show up at the function' role rather than strategic leadership and direction.

Svend Auken from the Danish Social Democrats gave a great speech about the Aaurhus Convention - a document and process that increases citizens access to information and decision-making. He suggested that Dublin was the Bangkok of Europe in traffic terms, and talked about how one third of the journeys to work in Copenhagen are made by bike (and don't they know how to do it in style)! He described how the Convention is NOT a power of veto, but what it does do is empower citizens. He neatly finished his contribution by stating we must do well by doing good.

Gabriel Metcalf from the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR) spoke about the future of citizenship. I've heard about their work for years, and their website looks great, but I had to high-tail it back to the Dáil for a vote at that stage and missed the other speaker's contributions. I would like to have heard Labour Councillor (and former Lord Mayor) Dermot Lacey's contribution, but I'm sure he'll pick it up in a blog alert and summarise it for me. Dublin City Manager John Tierney also spoke, and I'm sure he considered the positive potential of a mayor for all of Dublin who would give additional vision, leadership and direction to the city.

WendyLimerick on Twitter pointed me in the direction of Aodh Quinlivan's paper on 'Reconsidering Directly Elected Mayors in Ireland: Experiences from the United Kingdom and America. I'm hoping to read that this evening, before the vote on the National Pensions Reserve Fund (Amendment) and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2009 at 10 O'Clock this evening. If you see me on the Dáil feed with my head submerged in reading, you'll know what I'm up to.

All in all, a great conference from all reports. Well done to Dave O'Gorman, Raymond Sexton, Ciaran Fallon and Geraldine Walsh for the organisation, great to have an upbeat discussion in these troubled times about the future of our city.

Masterminds at Anglo Irish bank

2009-02-24T22:18:00.007Z

I must have missed it by minutes.

I had dropped the kids to school and peddled up to Stephen's Green to take a couple of picture of the front of Anglo Irish. Little did I know that the Guards were inside investigating suspected breaches of company law.

I guess you could describe it as some sort of reverse take-over when the the Guards rather than the robbers raid the bank.

The advertising in the window shows a Mastermind chair with the headline "Our chosen subject is savings". Given that the TV Quiz show's most well-known presenter was Iceland's own Magnús Magnússon I'm sure that there are some embarrassed faces in an ad agency somewhere. The small print on the Corporate logo reads "There is a difference." Damn right there is.

There's quite a few nuggets of information on Anglo's website including a Q and A on the Nationalisation process. Under the 'What triggered the nationalisation?" section (otherwise known as 'where did it all go wrong?') it states:

The funding position of Anglo ... progressively weakened over the past few weeks, and the ... unacceptable corporate governance practices that took place within Anglo ...caused serious reputational damage to the bank at a time when overall market sentiment towards it has been negative. The Government confirmed that the planned recapitalisation of Anglo announced on 21 December 2008 is not now the most appropriate and effective means to secure the bank's continued viability. Therefore, the Government decided to move to the final and decisive step of taking Anglo into public ownership.

Our Senator Dan Boyle was pretty outspoken in the Senate this afternoon. He feels that Fitzpatrick, Drumm and Bradshaw should be suspended until the investigations by the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement and the Financial Regulator have come to conclusion.

I had gone up to take a pic of Anglo to illustrate one of the few silver linings that might present itself to the side of the current dark cloud: Presumably much of Anglo's debt is tied to defaulting developers who have over-stretched themselves on land acquisition. If this is carefully handled it could allow the state to acquire significant land holdings that could be used to meet social housing and affordable housing demand for years to come.

Meanwhile, the lobbyists prowl the corridors of Leinster House. Tom Cullen from the SIMI seems to have spent the last two weeks drinking coffee with Fianna Fail back-benchers. He even claims that the Department of Finance now believe that a car scrappage scheme stacks up to create jobs. I'm not convinced. Our car fleet is young compared to the rest of Europe, and around half the carbon cost of a car is in its manufacture. I'm waiting for Tom to give me the figures.

The new president of the Construction Industry Federation Andy O'Gorman graces the cover of their official magazine of the Construction Industry Federation. He is straight up about his message: "We need effective lobbying to secure a commitment to continue the roads programme" he states. But what about the Metro, Andy? That could create 4,000 construction jobs.

My rant of the day is reserved for David Baddeley from Volvo Ireland. In his article in the Irish Times Motors supplement he believes that "Buying a car might actually put some people in a better financial position". This follows on from a paragraph where he states that buying payment protection insurance can address any concerns about possible redundancy. Have we learnt nothing from the boom? These type of advertorials in the motoring supplements mirror the excesses of the property supplements from the boom years that included ads for housing in Gorey Co. Wexford describing their developments as being within easy rail commuting distance of Dublin even when the first train didn't arrive in to Dublin till half ten.

My advice? Spend your money wisely. I'm banking on insulation. With the new grants coming on stream you can have a warmer home and reduce your fuel bills. There's also thousands of jobs, and a lot less carbon as the scheme is rolled out. My overview of the grants scheme is here.

Good luck with your spending!

Radical Reform required at Dublin Bus

2009-01-22T13:09:00.003Z

Busy times within the Green Party, with Bronwen Maher and Chris O'Leary's resignations. Anyway, I just thought I'd post the full text of the article that I submitted to the Irish Times which appeared as an opinion piece today...

...Dublin Bus requires radical reform to meet the needs of bus users. The company made a profit of €4.7m in 2007, but lost €10 m last year and will lose €31m this year unless action is taken. The company has to avoid haemorrhaging cash. Last week senior management chose the easier option of service cutbacks instead of the substantial reforms required to modernise the company.

Bright yellow buses and customer charters play their part, but the brand must be built on reliability, efficiency and punctuality. Buses play a valuable transport role and help cut carbon emissions but until they are a more attractive option Dublin Bus will continue to struggle.

A decade ago, disagreement over opening the centre doors led to a protracted row between management and unions. Rather than resolving the issue, new buses were ordered without centre doors. Ultimately bus users lost out by waiting longer to board and disembark. It seems that if there’s no easy answer proposals are quietly shelved.

Reforming the bus network is the main area where changes must occur. Although most quality bus corridors are successful, many routes meander around the city discouraging prospective passengers. The number seventeen takes an hour and twenty minutes to travel from Blackrock to the terminus in Rialto. En route it travels six miles to reach Dundrum, a journey of only three miles as the crow flies. More direct routes would attract more passengers from their cars.

The Dublin Transportation Office has computer modelling that show the origins and destinations of the journeys that Dubliners make. This information should be used to transform Dublin Bus’s routes into a clearer network that better serves the city’s needs.

More cross-city routes are required to allow passengers to benefit from faster journey times without having to transfer from one bus to another. The city centre would then benefit from less parked buses.

Too many Dublin Bus routes clog O’Connell Bridge rather than using other Liffey crossings. The network should be more like a spider’s web with easy transfer between routes where they intersect.

An over-supply of bus stops also complicates matters. There are five bus stops on the Monkstown road in South Dublin. Placing bus stop every 250 meters slows down buses. Less bus stops might add a minute or two to the walk to the stop, but would reduce bus journey times.

Consultants Deloitte are reporting to the Department of Transport on proposals for the CIE group, and no doubt have suggestions for Dublin Bus. This has happened before. In the early 1990s a report by the Dublin Transportation Initiative called for real time passenger information and integrated ticketing. Fifteen years later we are still waiting. In London an Oyster card the size of a credit card allows public transport users to transfer effortlessly between buses and the underground. Heads should roll in organisations that have delayed the roll-out of a similar system in Dublin. In London the Mayor chairs Transport for London, and something similar should happen here when we directly elect a Mayor.

Dublin Bus has erected signs on their bus stops stating when the bus should leave the terminus. Instead, they should inform you when buses will depart from the bus stop, as is common abroad. In other cities, buses pause for a moment along their route if required in order to stick to schedule. The increase in reliability would offset any increase in journey time and reduce the tendency of buses to travel in packs.

Dublin Bus ticket types offers forty different types of pre-paid tickets and nine different prices on board. Perhaps a €1, €2 or €3 fare on board, or eliminating on-board cash altogether would speed up boarding times, and make life easier for all.

Drivers could benefit from further training to better serve the needs of passengers. A costly kerb replacement system has been provided that permits level boarding. However drivers often fail to pull in to this kerb, making boarding difficult for parents with young children and the elderly. Gentler breaking and acceleration would also make buses more attractive.

A free bus map would help. The printed map of the Dublin Bus network costs €3 and is hard to obtain. A ‘London Underground’ style of map showing all public transport including Luas and rail would attract more users. The Dublin Bus website is searchable by bus number and destination, but it is left to a private site www.justroutes.com to permit you to chose your destination as well as your starting point, and find the bus you need.

Better bus priority measures in the city-centre and on the approaches to the M50 are crucial. Four lanes of car traffic are allowed through College Green and thus it can take half an hour to get by bus from Mountjoy Square to Stephens Green. Local authorities have to play their part in speeding up buses, and that requires political leadership. Taking cars out of College Green and a South Quays bus lane are required.

Dublin Bus should relocate many depots that occupy valuable land close to the City Centre. Depots should move close to the M50 allowing land at Grand Canal Dock and Mountjoy Square to be better used, and release equity for the company’s development in future years.

Dublin Bus can and must embrace sweeping changes. In the coming months the Government will publish legislation to modernise bus regulation that dates from the 1930s. However the company must also undergo substantial reform to reflect the needs of the city in 2009.

Ciarán Cuffe is the Green Party’s Transport Spokesperson and TD for Dún Laoghaire

Shooting Fish in a Barrel

2009-01-12T21:14:00.010Z

"Tony would want us all to be mindful of the Palestinian victims of the brutal Israeli aggression . . . in Gaza."

The words of Tony Gregory's brother Noel set the tone for an amazing send-off of the TD whose office was across the corridor from mine in Leinster House. Liam Ó Maonlaí underlined Noel's words with music in St. Agatha's Church. Fr.Peter McVerry paid eloquent tribute to a fellow-campaigner, and Cllr Maureen O'Sullivan spoke passionately about Tony's many and varied interests in life.

Tony was not a man to suffer fools gladly, unlike so many of those who have occupied a Dáil seat, and I'll miss the sound of his voice in the Dáil chamber, and from the office across the way.

He understood the system backwards, and as the leader of the technical group in the Dáil (which include the Greens) for the five years between 2002 and 2007 he ensured that all of its members were well represented.

Meanwhile in Gaza the murder continues. There is evil on all sides, but the murder and bloodshed of the Israeli army over the last two weeks beggars belief. Any sense of proportion from the Israeli Government has been thrown out the window, and this is like shooting fish in a barrel; it is a bloodbath. Withdrawing the credentials of the Israeli Ambassador to Ireland has been suggested, but perhaps sanctions against the State of Israel would send out a clearer message that would hurt economically.

The timing of the Green Party's members' conference and Green Economics Seminar in Liberty Hall clashed with the Palestine March in Dublin last Saturday, but I headed out early from our meeting, with some colleagues from Northern Ireland to join the start of the march outside the Central Bank. We spoke as we walked up the Quays, and agreed that the actions of the Israelis were akin to the British Army reacting to IRA attacks by taking it upon themselves to bomb all nationalist areas back into the Stone Age. The timing is so cynical, in the interregnum before Obama takes office, and in the midst of an election campaign in Israel.

Reuters reported last Friday that the US was hiring a ship to bring hundreds of tonnes of arms and ammunition to Israel from Greece, including bunker busting bombs that can blast through eight metres of reinforced concrete. The figures speak for themselves: this evening the BBC reports 910 killed in Gaza including 292 children. Israel says 13 of their citizens have been killed.

Joe Sacco's graphic novel Palestine from the early 1990s paints a vivid picture of everyday life for ordinary Palestinians. Not much changed in the years leading up to the current conflic . His perspective is miles apart from the New York Times's reporting of the conflict, and illustrates the huge difficulties that ordinary Palestinians face. Of course the appalling actions of Hamas have also led to the loss of innocent lives, and deserve condemnation, but the disproportionate response from Israel is murderous and cannot be justified.

Hopefully Tony Blair's efforts can help bring all sides to agreeing a new cease-fire, but in the meantime some form of sanctions against Israel is required.

Happy Holidays

2008-12-23T14:18:00.010Z

It' s the only way to travel, when the buses are full, and the queues for car parks have your blood boiling.

I spotted this cycling Santa in the window of Mike's Bikes on Patrick Street, just down the road from my constituency office in Dun Laoghaire. Hopefully early in the new year he'll have all the elves signed up for a bike, and safety equipment courtesy of the scheme announced in Budget 2009.

Some good news and bad news to end the year.

On the negative front Pope Benedict has got himself into hot water with his statement yesterday that saving humanity from homosexual or transsexual behavior being as important as saving the rain forest from destruction. Not quite the right note to kick off the season of peace and goodwill. I've issued what I can only hope is a measured response over at the Green Party site.

On a more positive note Barack Obama seems to have appointed a top-notch team of scientific advisers, and that can only be good for the rain forests, and the rest of the planet. For me the lesson from his campaign is not so much about using Gothic font and new media, but about connecting with people. In Ireland knocking on doors and public meetings are as important as always.

Grist, the online green magazine has some tips for the festive season here, and once the twelve days of Christmas are over you can find out where to recycle and dispose of your festive trimmings here.

Thanks for all you comments over the last year, particularly the constructive ones. See you all in January.

Beannachtaí na Nollag, agus Síocháin san Athbliain.

Green New Deal

2008-12-10T20:25:00.010Z

Friday Afternoon. It's wet and cold in Poznan at the Climate Change Conference.

After a fairly turgid discussion of the need for emissions trading in the German car industry sector this morning, I headed over to listen to Al Gore. Two minutes in and I had to hightail it into a radio studio where I waited for a broadcasting slot for the last twenty minutes. Climate change was sidelined by the resignation of Niall Crowley from the Authority. I made the point on RTE Newst One that promoting and defending equality cannot be seen as a luxury to be marginalised when finances are constrained.

Meanwhile back in the Polish conference hall, it's Hamlet without the Prince. While parts of a Climate Change deal are being negotiated here, at the UNFCCC COP 14 talks, the real deal is being struck in Brussels at the Heads of State meeting. COP 14 is the fourteenth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and this is part of a process began in Bali a year ago that will hopefully conclude in Copenhagen in a year's time. We're also waiting to see how a new US President will tackle the issue.

There's some good news in the last half hour, a deal has been concluded in Brussels on a European package. French President Nicolas Sarkozy says the deal is historic, but I've just been handed a press release from Friends of the Earth International accusing industrialised countries of failing to commit to immediate binding emission reduction targets. On the positive side of things, Europe can take credit for being (roughly speaking) the first continent to set out a clear plan for tackling high emission.

John Gormley heads up the Irish delegation in Poland. Being a Leo, his weekly horoscope courtesy of Young Friends of the Earth Europe states that "This week the stars are in a perfect position for powerful decisions which can make a real difference for future generations. The Leo should more than ever use its leadership qualities , its creativity and passion to lead the world in the right direction." Well, that's just what the John and the rest of the Irish delegates appear to have been up to for the last fortnight. Pat Finnegan from Grian wants a 30% reduction by 2020, and the Irish branch of the Friends of the Earth want climate change to be enshrined in domestic legislation. All eyes will be on the US over the next few months to see what Barack Obama can deliver.

In Ireland the next wave of economic activity can and should be in green collar jobs. Green energy, green construction, green transport - all of these can create and foster employment in sectors that have experienced a downturn. I'm hoping that this will be part of the economic plans that are under preparation by Brian Cowen. A "Green New Deal"is the obvious way to kick-start a lagging economy, and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said as much yesterday.

I'm heading back out to the afternoon events, now. I'm hoping to attend a talk by the 350.org group on what is required to stabilise CO2 at 350 parts per million in the Earth's atmosphere. On the way over I'll pass a great collection of stands manned by NGOs, academics, business interests and institutions. Feasta is represented by Richard Douthwaite and others with material on 'cap and share' ; the International Atomic Agency has a glossy brochure of nuclear powers station surrounded by trees, the Heinrich Boll Foundation has leaflets on the right to development in a climate constrained world, and I picked up some good background information on the UK Hadley Centre (run by the Met Office) and the UK Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, named after our own John Tyndall from Co. Carlow.

As I head in to the meeting rooms Yvo de Boer of the UNFCC has just issued a statement saying that "The European Union's climate deal sends a clear message to the negociations in Poznan and onwards to Copenhagen that difficult roadblocks can be overcome and resolved", and European Commissioner Stavros Dimas has reiterated that the EU will commit to 30% cuts by 2020 "if other developed countries make comparable reductions under the Copenhagen agreement."

Concerns about leakage from these targets remain, but for the moment there's cautious optimism in Poznan.