Environment Minister John Gormley has announced that he intends to launch investigations into a number of planning decisions around the country following complaints received by his department.
Opening the Green Party convention in Waterford last week, Mr Gormley said he would begin inquiries under the terms of the Planning Act, following complaints about breaches of the legislation.
Some of the complaints are believed to relate to the way in which some local authorities have contravened their own developments plans, while others relate to the failure of local authorities to dismantle illegal developments.
Mr Gormley told the convention that attempts were now being made to mask questionable rezoning decisions with claims that jobs are at stake. He cited an attempted rezoning decision in south county Dublin as an example of what was happening.
“This type of developer-led planning - the type that got us into this current mess - does not create jobs. It costs - it costs the environment, it costs taxpayers money and it costs jobs,” he said.
Mr Gormley added that last month there was an attempt by some councillors to assist a developer in rezoning a swathe of land for a supermarket beside a motorway in south county Dublin.
“In this, the south Dublin case, years of planning to create a new town centre in south Dublin - and €350 million of public and private investment into a new Luas line - would have been undermined because one developer had other ideas and land elsewhere. It is no surprise, therefore, that our planning Bill ... has been opposed tooth and nail by some Opposition politicians.”
Mr Gormley said that the county councils were the foundations of our political system and he had the utmost respect for most local councillors.
“That said, despite all that we have been through ... some councillors are still engaging in crony capitalism. With business as usual in our council chambers, the noble words on reform and accountability by some political party leaders ring hollow,” he said.
Mr Gormley added that people should remember that too often in the past, planning principles were put aside in the name of commercial and financial expediency and claims about creating and sustaining employment.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Showing posts with label john gormley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label john gormley. Show all posts
Wednesday, 31 March 2010
Gormley signals intention to inquire into planning decisions nationwide
Environment Minister John Gormley has announced that he intends to launch investigations into a number of planning decisions around the country following complaints received by his department.
Opening the Green Party convention in Waterford last week, Mr Gormley said he would begin inquiries under the terms of the Planning Act, following complaints about breaches of the legislation.
Some of the complaints are believed to relate to the way in which some local authorities have contravened their own developments plans, while others relate to the failure of local authorities to dismantle illegal developments.
Mr Gormley told the convention that attempts were now being made to mask questionable rezoning decisions with claims that jobs are at stake. He cited an attempted rezoning decision in south county Dublin as an example of what was happening.
“This type of developer-led planning - the type that got us into this current mess - does not create jobs. It costs - it costs the environment, it costs taxpayers money and it costs jobs,” he said.
Mr Gormley added that last month there was an attempt by some councillors to assist a developer in rezoning a swathe of land for a supermarket beside a motorway in south county Dublin.
“In this, the south Dublin case, years of planning to create a new town centre in south Dublin - and €350 million of public and private investment into a new Luas line - would have been undermined because one developer had other ideas and land elsewhere. It is no surprise, therefore, that our planning Bill ... has been opposed tooth and nail by some Opposition politicians.”
Mr Gormley said that the county councils were the foundations of our political system and he had the utmost respect for most local councillors.
“That said, despite all that we have been through ... some councillors are still engaging in crony capitalism. With business as usual in our council chambers, the noble words on reform and accountability by some political party leaders ring hollow,” he said.
Mr Gormley added that people should remember that too often in the past, planning principles were put aside in the name of commercial and financial expediency and claims about creating and sustaining employment.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Opening the Green Party convention in Waterford last week, Mr Gormley said he would begin inquiries under the terms of the Planning Act, following complaints about breaches of the legislation.
Some of the complaints are believed to relate to the way in which some local authorities have contravened their own developments plans, while others relate to the failure of local authorities to dismantle illegal developments.
Mr Gormley told the convention that attempts were now being made to mask questionable rezoning decisions with claims that jobs are at stake. He cited an attempted rezoning decision in south county Dublin as an example of what was happening.
“This type of developer-led planning - the type that got us into this current mess - does not create jobs. It costs - it costs the environment, it costs taxpayers money and it costs jobs,” he said.
Mr Gormley added that last month there was an attempt by some councillors to assist a developer in rezoning a swathe of land for a supermarket beside a motorway in south county Dublin.
“In this, the south Dublin case, years of planning to create a new town centre in south Dublin - and €350 million of public and private investment into a new Luas line - would have been undermined because one developer had other ideas and land elsewhere. It is no surprise, therefore, that our planning Bill ... has been opposed tooth and nail by some Opposition politicians.”
Mr Gormley said that the county councils were the foundations of our political system and he had the utmost respect for most local councillors.
“That said, despite all that we have been through ... some councillors are still engaging in crony capitalism. With business as usual in our council chambers, the noble words on reform and accountability by some political party leaders ring hollow,” he said.
Mr Gormley added that people should remember that too often in the past, planning principles were put aside in the name of commercial and financial expediency and claims about creating and sustaining employment.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Sunday, 15 February 2009
'Planning dictator' insult fired at Minister Gormley
AN BORD PLEANALA and Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, came in for sharp criticism at last Monday's meeting of Wicklow County Council.
Deirdre Scully of the Regional Planning Guidelines gave the members notice that guidelines for the Greater Dublin area, which includes Wicklow Town and county, were going to be reviewed and said they would welcome submissions.
The idea behind the review, she said, was so they could see the areas within each county they needed to focus on.
Key issues under the RPGs include public transport, water services, the built and natural heritage and social infrastructure.
Following her presentation Cllr. George Jones said he felt the 'whole planning process is just a bureaucratic nightmare. 'We are going nowhere. The Minister for the Environment is a complete dictator when it comes to planning.'
Cllr. Chris Fox agreed saying Minister Gormley has 'started to dictate to local authorities about planning. We heard about a memo from the Minister to each county manager urging them not to relax any criteria for rural planning and to tighten it significantly instead.'
Cllr. Jimmy O'Shaughnessy said he didn't feel Wicklow got enough out of the current RPGs. 'One thing that was put into the last plan was about bringing jobs to Wicklow. I don't think we got any jobs out of it and in fact factories are closing every day,' he said. Cllr. O'Shaughnessy was also concerned about the intervention of Minister Gormley. 'I am worried about the Minister. I believe if he had his way there wouldn't be a house built in the county. People have the right to live where they were born and reared.'
Cllr. John Ryan said there were massive inconsistencies within An Bord Pleanala. 'Wicklow County Council makes one decision, the inspector with An Bord Pleanala makes another and An Bord Pleanala makes another. It seems to me that God only knows what they (An Bord Pleanala) will do.
Cllr. Pat Vance said that he had been expressing his concerns about An Bord Pleanala for a long time and said they were behaving disgracefully.
Green Party's Ciaran O'Brien said there had been 'horrendous' planning practices in Ireland for the past ten years and said people 'were giving planning permission to their buddies'.
However Cllr. O'Shaughnessy was outraged and asked him to retract the statement saying that when it came to planning he had 'no buddies'.
Wicklow People
www.buckplanning.ie
Deirdre Scully of the Regional Planning Guidelines gave the members notice that guidelines for the Greater Dublin area, which includes Wicklow Town and county, were going to be reviewed and said they would welcome submissions.
The idea behind the review, she said, was so they could see the areas within each county they needed to focus on.
Key issues under the RPGs include public transport, water services, the built and natural heritage and social infrastructure.
Following her presentation Cllr. George Jones said he felt the 'whole planning process is just a bureaucratic nightmare. 'We are going nowhere. The Minister for the Environment is a complete dictator when it comes to planning.'
Cllr. Chris Fox agreed saying Minister Gormley has 'started to dictate to local authorities about planning. We heard about a memo from the Minister to each county manager urging them not to relax any criteria for rural planning and to tighten it significantly instead.'
Cllr. Jimmy O'Shaughnessy said he didn't feel Wicklow got enough out of the current RPGs. 'One thing that was put into the last plan was about bringing jobs to Wicklow. I don't think we got any jobs out of it and in fact factories are closing every day,' he said. Cllr. O'Shaughnessy was also concerned about the intervention of Minister Gormley. 'I am worried about the Minister. I believe if he had his way there wouldn't be a house built in the county. People have the right to live where they were born and reared.'
Cllr. John Ryan said there were massive inconsistencies within An Bord Pleanala. 'Wicklow County Council makes one decision, the inspector with An Bord Pleanala makes another and An Bord Pleanala makes another. It seems to me that God only knows what they (An Bord Pleanala) will do.
Cllr. Pat Vance said that he had been expressing his concerns about An Bord Pleanala for a long time and said they were behaving disgracefully.
Green Party's Ciaran O'Brien said there had been 'horrendous' planning practices in Ireland for the past ten years and said people 'were giving planning permission to their buddies'.
However Cllr. O'Shaughnessy was outraged and asked him to retract the statement saying that when it came to planning he had 'no buddies'.
Wicklow People
www.buckplanning.ie
Sunday, 7 September 2008
Gormley overturns zoning decision at centre of Waterford land probe
A controversial zoning decision in Co Waterford, which is the subject of a on-going garda investigation, has been overturned by Environment minister John Gormley.
His intervention has been strongly criticised by the local mayor, who has accused the minister of "sticking his nose into business" he doesn't understand.
Mr Gormley found that the scale of the building projects included in the Dungarvan Development Plan did not comply with national regulations and should be significantly scaled back.
Sunday Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
His intervention has been strongly criticised by the local mayor, who has accused the minister of "sticking his nose into business" he doesn't understand.
Mr Gormley found that the scale of the building projects included in the Dungarvan Development Plan did not comply with national regulations and should be significantly scaled back.
Sunday Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Friday, 30 May 2008
Hedgerow row
THE National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is investigating the spraying of hedgerows in Meath to determine if wildlife legislation could have been breached, the Dept of the Environment has confirmed.
The Wildlife legislation governs the cutting of hedges and clearing of vegetation during the bird nesting season which runs from Ist March to 31st August.
Environment Minister, John Gormley, has sent a circular to all local authorities in the country following complaints about the Meath spraying incident to remind them about the legislation.
A spokesman for the Dept of the Environment yesterday (Tuesday) said the minister would not make any decision about whether a prosecution was appropriate until the NPWS reported back on its findings.
One local resident, Jim Byrne, Athboy Road, said that he and neighbours were very annoyed about the spraying operation when they noticed that hedges appeared to be wilting. Mr Byrne also observed five small dead birds in the area of his house alone. He said that it was not normal for this to occur and it was his understanding that the locality was a Special Conservation Area (SAC).
The funding for spraying to eliminate the ragworth hazard on grass verges all around the country was made available by the National Roads Authority (NRA).
Meath County Council director of services, Eugene Cummins, said yesterday (Tuesday) that, from initial surveys, it seemed that reports of the damage caused by the spraying in the county had been "grossly exaggerated". The area impacted upon was very small, said Mr Cummins.
A Sunday newspaper had referred to 400kms of hedgerow being sprayed with herbicide by a contractor employed by Meath County Council. Mr Cummins clarified this, saying that the entire national road network in Meath was 200kms. This was equivalent to 400kms of verges. However, it was not correct to equate the length of hedgerows in the county with the total of the verges.
Mr Cummins added that, in 2007, the council had been "inundated" with phone calls from the general public demanding what the local authority was doing about ragwort on the roadsides. A weed which is hazardous to humans but particularly to animals, ragwort had steadily made inroads in Meath and the spraying operation, in conjunction with the NRA, had been initiated to combat this hazard. The NRA also prepared guidelines control of weeds.
As far as Meath County Council was concerned, said Mr Cummins, it had followed the guidelines. "Notwithstanding that, it seems that, in some areas, there was some overspraying which would have affected the leafy parts of some plants," said the council director of services.
National conservation body, An Taisce, expressed alarm at the operation. A spokeswoman, Anja Murray, said that the spraying had happened at a time when songbirds were busily feeding nests full of hatchlings. Ms Murray said their food supply depended on plants. The danger to "bubblebees, butterflies, hedgerows, indeed the whole hedgerow ecosystem" was source of grave concern to An Taisce. She was also worried about possible long-term impact on aquatic life such as frogs and fish.
The circular sent to all the local authorities on behalf of Mr Gormley directed their attention to the requirements of Section 40 of the Wildlife Act, 1976, as amended by Section 46 of the Wildlife Amendment Act, 2000, in relation to the cutting of hedges and the clearing of vegetation during the bird nesting season from Ist March to 31 st. August.
The National Biodiversity Plan, adopted by Government in 2002, recognises that hedgerows provide important habitats for a variety of species and states "for the future, the overall goal should be to have no net loss of the hedgerow resource".
The minister's circular urges councils to convey the message to people in the organisations who have any involvement in organising or managing operations involving roadside trimming, hedge-cutting or other operations that might require the clearance of vegetation. The circular also refers to the role of contractors.
Infringements by local authorities would be viewed particularly seriously, said the circular, and wildlife staff of the Dept had been asked to pay special attention to this. Notices are being placed in national newspapers setting out the substance of the law regarding hedge-cutting.
The minister referred to the local authorities' role in "guardianship of hedgerows". He said he was pleased to note evidence of an improvement in compliance by local authorities and he welcomed the leadership that had been shown by a number of them in this regard.
Meath Green party vice-1 chairman, Fergal O'Byrne, outlined his concerns about the use of herbicide. He said that many studies had shown that the use of herbicides had negative affects on hedgerows, impacting on leaves, flowers, green berries and mature berries. He urged Meath County Council to include a full environmental risk assessment and impact analysis into any contact agreement with any subcontractors prior to works commencing.
Meath Chronicle
www.buckplanning.ie
The Wildlife legislation governs the cutting of hedges and clearing of vegetation during the bird nesting season which runs from Ist March to 31st August.
Environment Minister, John Gormley, has sent a circular to all local authorities in the country following complaints about the Meath spraying incident to remind them about the legislation.
A spokesman for the Dept of the Environment yesterday (Tuesday) said the minister would not make any decision about whether a prosecution was appropriate until the NPWS reported back on its findings.
One local resident, Jim Byrne, Athboy Road, said that he and neighbours were very annoyed about the spraying operation when they noticed that hedges appeared to be wilting. Mr Byrne also observed five small dead birds in the area of his house alone. He said that it was not normal for this to occur and it was his understanding that the locality was a Special Conservation Area (SAC).
The funding for spraying to eliminate the ragworth hazard on grass verges all around the country was made available by the National Roads Authority (NRA).
Meath County Council director of services, Eugene Cummins, said yesterday (Tuesday) that, from initial surveys, it seemed that reports of the damage caused by the spraying in the county had been "grossly exaggerated". The area impacted upon was very small, said Mr Cummins.
A Sunday newspaper had referred to 400kms of hedgerow being sprayed with herbicide by a contractor employed by Meath County Council. Mr Cummins clarified this, saying that the entire national road network in Meath was 200kms. This was equivalent to 400kms of verges. However, it was not correct to equate the length of hedgerows in the county with the total of the verges.
Mr Cummins added that, in 2007, the council had been "inundated" with phone calls from the general public demanding what the local authority was doing about ragwort on the roadsides. A weed which is hazardous to humans but particularly to animals, ragwort had steadily made inroads in Meath and the spraying operation, in conjunction with the NRA, had been initiated to combat this hazard. The NRA also prepared guidelines control of weeds.
As far as Meath County Council was concerned, said Mr Cummins, it had followed the guidelines. "Notwithstanding that, it seems that, in some areas, there was some overspraying which would have affected the leafy parts of some plants," said the council director of services.
National conservation body, An Taisce, expressed alarm at the operation. A spokeswoman, Anja Murray, said that the spraying had happened at a time when songbirds were busily feeding nests full of hatchlings. Ms Murray said their food supply depended on plants. The danger to "bubblebees, butterflies, hedgerows, indeed the whole hedgerow ecosystem" was source of grave concern to An Taisce. She was also worried about possible long-term impact on aquatic life such as frogs and fish.
The circular sent to all the local authorities on behalf of Mr Gormley directed their attention to the requirements of Section 40 of the Wildlife Act, 1976, as amended by Section 46 of the Wildlife Amendment Act, 2000, in relation to the cutting of hedges and the clearing of vegetation during the bird nesting season from Ist March to 31 st. August.
The National Biodiversity Plan, adopted by Government in 2002, recognises that hedgerows provide important habitats for a variety of species and states "for the future, the overall goal should be to have no net loss of the hedgerow resource".
The minister's circular urges councils to convey the message to people in the organisations who have any involvement in organising or managing operations involving roadside trimming, hedge-cutting or other operations that might require the clearance of vegetation. The circular also refers to the role of contractors.
Infringements by local authorities would be viewed particularly seriously, said the circular, and wildlife staff of the Dept had been asked to pay special attention to this. Notices are being placed in national newspapers setting out the substance of the law regarding hedge-cutting.
The minister referred to the local authorities' role in "guardianship of hedgerows". He said he was pleased to note evidence of an improvement in compliance by local authorities and he welcomed the leadership that had been shown by a number of them in this regard.
Meath Green party vice-1 chairman, Fergal O'Byrne, outlined his concerns about the use of herbicide. He said that many studies had shown that the use of herbicides had negative affects on hedgerows, impacting on leaves, flowers, green berries and mature berries. He urged Meath County Council to include a full environmental risk assessment and impact analysis into any contact agreement with any subcontractors prior to works commencing.
Meath Chronicle
www.buckplanning.ie
Wednesday, 30 April 2008
Who calls the shots the mayor, the minister or the transport authority
THE PROPOSAL in this week's Green Paper on local government that the Dublin Transport Authority (DTA) is to be chaired by whoever becomes the capital's first directly-elected mayor will compensate only partly for a significant democratic deficit in the authority's composition.
The Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, said he had got the agreement of his colleague, Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey, that the mayor would chair the DTA - in 2011; as currently framed, this powerful new body would be headed by a ministerial appointee.
The Dublin Transport Authority Bill, published last week, provides that none of the 10 members of the authority would be elected representatives, and that only four of the 12 on its advisory council would be members of the Dublin and Mid-East regional authorities. The rest would all be appointees of the Minister for Transport - chosen, the Bill says, on the basis of their expertise in "relevant disciplines", such as finance, transport or planning - as well as ex-officio members such as Dublin city manager John Tierney.
Lest there be any impression that the DTA is not a creature of central government, there are no less than 230 direct references to the Minister in its 78 pages - mainly dealing with his powers to order the affairs of the authority; in this respect, it is par for the course. Establishment of the DTA, according to the explanatory memorandum, "will ensure, for the first time, that there is a single, properly accountable body with overall responsibility for surface transport in the Greater Dublin Area" (GDA), which includes Meath, Kildare and Wicklow.
Its general functions will include strategic transport planning, provision of public transport services and infrastructure and traffic management. It will also take over responsibility from the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) for the thorny issue of introducing integrated ticketing. But the RPA will stay in business, with continuing responsibility for the delivery of Luas and metro projects. Indeed, the agency fought an evidently successful bureaucratic battle against an earlier, apparently firm proposal that it would simply be subsumed into the DTA.
The only body that is to be dissolved under the Legislation is the Dublin Transportation Office, which has performed a co-ordinating role for transport in the region and was also the originator of the metro plan - now causing "wigs on the Green" as details of its design emerge.
The DTA's first duty will be to prepare a six-year transport strategy for the GDA - in consultation with the local authorities as well as the wider community - covering investment in infrastructure, and the procurement and integration of public transport services. In preparing its integrated implementation plan, the DTA will get written guidance from the Minister on "multi-annual funding arrangements", though it will be obliged to have "due regard" for "the most beneficial, effective and efficient use of Exchequer resources". Where possible, the DTA is required to secure the provision of public transport infrastructure through existing agencies, such as the National Roads Authority, the local authorities, Iarnrod Eireann and the RPA - though it will have "step-in" powers, if any of these fail. However, the Bill does nothing to liberalise or open up the Dublin bus market. The "exclusive rights" of Bus Eireann, Dublin Bus and Iarnrod Eireann to operate the services they currently provide are reaffirmed, and the DTA is obliged to award them direct contracts.
One of the most significant provisions of the Bill is the land use planning powers it gives the new agency. In future, there will be an onus on the GDA's seven local authorities to ensure that their development plans are consistent with the DTA's transport strategy. The Dublin and Mid-East regional authorities, though largely powerless, will also be required to include a statement in their regional planning guidelines "explaining how there will be effective integration of transport and land use planning", the memorandum says.
Furthermore, the 2000 Planning Act is being amended to give the Minister for the Environment power to direct any of the GDA's local authorities to review or vary their draft development plan to ensure that its objectives are consistent with the DTA's transport strategy.
Another amendment to the Planning Act will make it easier for the local authorities to refuse planning permission for any development that would be inconsistent with the transport strategy, because they wouldn't risk having to pay compensation to disappointed developers.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, said he had got the agreement of his colleague, Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey, that the mayor would chair the DTA - in 2011; as currently framed, this powerful new body would be headed by a ministerial appointee.
The Dublin Transport Authority Bill, published last week, provides that none of the 10 members of the authority would be elected representatives, and that only four of the 12 on its advisory council would be members of the Dublin and Mid-East regional authorities. The rest would all be appointees of the Minister for Transport - chosen, the Bill says, on the basis of their expertise in "relevant disciplines", such as finance, transport or planning - as well as ex-officio members such as Dublin city manager John Tierney.
Lest there be any impression that the DTA is not a creature of central government, there are no less than 230 direct references to the Minister in its 78 pages - mainly dealing with his powers to order the affairs of the authority; in this respect, it is par for the course. Establishment of the DTA, according to the explanatory memorandum, "will ensure, for the first time, that there is a single, properly accountable body with overall responsibility for surface transport in the Greater Dublin Area" (GDA), which includes Meath, Kildare and Wicklow.
Its general functions will include strategic transport planning, provision of public transport services and infrastructure and traffic management. It will also take over responsibility from the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) for the thorny issue of introducing integrated ticketing. But the RPA will stay in business, with continuing responsibility for the delivery of Luas and metro projects. Indeed, the agency fought an evidently successful bureaucratic battle against an earlier, apparently firm proposal that it would simply be subsumed into the DTA.
The only body that is to be dissolved under the Legislation is the Dublin Transportation Office, which has performed a co-ordinating role for transport in the region and was also the originator of the metro plan - now causing "wigs on the Green" as details of its design emerge.
The DTA's first duty will be to prepare a six-year transport strategy for the GDA - in consultation with the local authorities as well as the wider community - covering investment in infrastructure, and the procurement and integration of public transport services. In preparing its integrated implementation plan, the DTA will get written guidance from the Minister on "multi-annual funding arrangements", though it will be obliged to have "due regard" for "the most beneficial, effective and efficient use of Exchequer resources". Where possible, the DTA is required to secure the provision of public transport infrastructure through existing agencies, such as the National Roads Authority, the local authorities, Iarnrod Eireann and the RPA - though it will have "step-in" powers, if any of these fail. However, the Bill does nothing to liberalise or open up the Dublin bus market. The "exclusive rights" of Bus Eireann, Dublin Bus and Iarnrod Eireann to operate the services they currently provide are reaffirmed, and the DTA is obliged to award them direct contracts.
One of the most significant provisions of the Bill is the land use planning powers it gives the new agency. In future, there will be an onus on the GDA's seven local authorities to ensure that their development plans are consistent with the DTA's transport strategy. The Dublin and Mid-East regional authorities, though largely powerless, will also be required to include a statement in their regional planning guidelines "explaining how there will be effective integration of transport and land use planning", the memorandum says.
Furthermore, the 2000 Planning Act is being amended to give the Minister for the Environment power to direct any of the GDA's local authorities to review or vary their draft development plan to ensure that its objectives are consistent with the DTA's transport strategy.
Another amendment to the Planning Act will make it easier for the local authorities to refuse planning permission for any development that would be inconsistent with the transport strategy, because they wouldn't risk having to pay compensation to disappointed developers.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
City to get new cycling officer
Minister for the Environment John Gormley has reversed his department's decision to refuse to sanction the appointment of an engineer to develop safe cycling routes in Dublin city.
An official in the department wrote to Dublin City Council last February saying she had been directed by Mr Gormley to say that he could not fund the post because of Government policy on public sector employment. When contacted last month by The Irish Times a spokesman for Mr Gormley said he had not been made aware of the request or the refusal
The request had been made by the council's traffic department following a meeting of its cycling forum which had raised concerns about the serious lack of resources dedicated to cycling and the low number of cycling lanes, despite Government assertions that it wanted people to stop using their cars for commuting.
The chair of the cycling forum, Labour councillor Andrew Montague, said it was particularly disappointing that Mr Gormley, who is known to be a keen cyclist, would refuse to sanction the appointment of a cycling officer.
The council has had no engineer dedicated to maintaining cycling facilities such as fixing potholes in bicycle lanes, resurfacing lanes, planning new lanes, locating bicycle racks and identifying junctions where cyclists are in danger. This job has been done by various engineers in the traffic department, in addition to their normal work.
The council said it has now been given sanction for the new position and will advertise the job in the coming weeks. The new cycling officer will audit all existing cycling infrastructure, design new infrastructure, prepare an upgrade programme, and promote cycling through education and training programmes.
Chairman of the council's traffic and transport committee Labour's Seán Kenny yesterday welcomed the decision.
"At last Dublin City Council will be able to put a qualified senior engineer into this vital position," he said.
Olivia Kelly
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
An official in the department wrote to Dublin City Council last February saying she had been directed by Mr Gormley to say that he could not fund the post because of Government policy on public sector employment. When contacted last month by The Irish Times a spokesman for Mr Gormley said he had not been made aware of the request or the refusal
The request had been made by the council's traffic department following a meeting of its cycling forum which had raised concerns about the serious lack of resources dedicated to cycling and the low number of cycling lanes, despite Government assertions that it wanted people to stop using their cars for commuting.
The chair of the cycling forum, Labour councillor Andrew Montague, said it was particularly disappointing that Mr Gormley, who is known to be a keen cyclist, would refuse to sanction the appointment of a cycling officer.
The council has had no engineer dedicated to maintaining cycling facilities such as fixing potholes in bicycle lanes, resurfacing lanes, planning new lanes, locating bicycle racks and identifying junctions where cyclists are in danger. This job has been done by various engineers in the traffic department, in addition to their normal work.
The council said it has now been given sanction for the new position and will advertise the job in the coming weeks. The new cycling officer will audit all existing cycling infrastructure, design new infrastructure, prepare an upgrade programme, and promote cycling through education and training programmes.
Chairman of the council's traffic and transport committee Labour's Seán Kenny yesterday welcomed the decision.
"At last Dublin City Council will be able to put a qualified senior engineer into this vital position," he said.
Olivia Kelly
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Sunday, 20 April 2008
M3 protesters focus on Gormley's Unesco plan
RENEWED CALLS to reroute the M3 motorway from the valleys of Tara and Skryne in Co Meath have been made in response to Minister for the Environment John Gormley's recent comments on the site.
The Minister said last week he did not see the planned M3 motorway preventing the Hill of Tara from being nominated as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) world heritage site. He said he believed it would be possible to take a series of initiatives to preserve the Gabhra Valley between the Hill of Tara and the Hill of Skryne.
Campaigners believe Tara would struggle to achieve the status Mr Gormley desires because of the nature of the works.
Vincent Salafia of Tarawatch said the Minister's proposal had created an opportunity to revisit the whole issue. "We're calling on Unesco to designate the Tara site and to insist that the motorway be rerouted from the area."
Mr Salafia said the designation of Tara as a world heritage site could drum up international support. "International pressure is our best hope for saving Tara. If Ireland wants to use Unesco to help deliver tourists to world heritage sites in Ireland, they must enforce Unesco standards of preservation in those areas."
He also said there was a possibility that another legal challenge to try to reroute the motorway would take place.
His comments came yesterday on International Day for Monuments and Sites 2008, which was marked by a World Heritage Forum at Trinity College, Dublin. The theme for the forum, which focused heavily on the Hill of Tara situation, was "Religious Heritage and Sacred Places".
Dr Sarah Alyn-Stacey, of the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Trinity College, asked why the Minister had left it until this late stage to seek Unecso status for the Tara site when archaeological evidence of the site's historic wealth had been present for so long.
Speaking last week, Mr Gormley said his department had engaged Dr Jukka Jokilehto, a Finnish-born conservation expert, to visit Tara and the other sites on what is known as the "tentative list" for Unesco.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The Minister said last week he did not see the planned M3 motorway preventing the Hill of Tara from being nominated as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) world heritage site. He said he believed it would be possible to take a series of initiatives to preserve the Gabhra Valley between the Hill of Tara and the Hill of Skryne.
Campaigners believe Tara would struggle to achieve the status Mr Gormley desires because of the nature of the works.
Vincent Salafia of Tarawatch said the Minister's proposal had created an opportunity to revisit the whole issue. "We're calling on Unesco to designate the Tara site and to insist that the motorway be rerouted from the area."
Mr Salafia said the designation of Tara as a world heritage site could drum up international support. "International pressure is our best hope for saving Tara. If Ireland wants to use Unesco to help deliver tourists to world heritage sites in Ireland, they must enforce Unesco standards of preservation in those areas."
He also said there was a possibility that another legal challenge to try to reroute the motorway would take place.
His comments came yesterday on International Day for Monuments and Sites 2008, which was marked by a World Heritage Forum at Trinity College, Dublin. The theme for the forum, which focused heavily on the Hill of Tara situation, was "Religious Heritage and Sacred Places".
Dr Sarah Alyn-Stacey, of the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Trinity College, asked why the Minister had left it until this late stage to seek Unecso status for the Tara site when archaeological evidence of the site's historic wealth had been present for so long.
Speaking last week, Mr Gormley said his department had engaged Dr Jukka Jokilehto, a Finnish-born conservation expert, to visit Tara and the other sites on what is known as the "tentative list" for Unesco.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Sunday, 13 April 2008
The Great and Little Sugar Loaf Mountains Special Amenity Area Order
On a visit to Wicklow, Mr John Gormley, TD, Minister for the Environment, Heritage & Local Government confirmed that it is his intention to write to Wicklow County Council directing them to make an order declaring the Great and Little Sugar Loaf Mountains as areas of special amenity due to their outstanding natural beauty.
The power for the Minister to make this direction to Wicklow County Council - and the steps to be followed by the planning authority - are set out in sections 202 and 203 of the Planning and Development Act 2000. The Planning Acts provide that notification of the special amenity area order must be made in one or more local newspapers. The planning authority must then submit the order - together with any objections - to An Bord Pleanála for confirmation.
Where any objections to the order are not withdrawn, An Bord Pleanála is required to hold an oral hearing and to consider the objections. Following this, An Bord Pleanála may then confirm the order - with or without modifications - or refuse to confirm it.
Commenting, the Minister said - "my direction to make this order for the Great and Little Sugar Loaf Mountains follows on from the designation by Wicklow County Council of Bray Head as a special amenity area and the confirmation of this by An Bord Pleanála. These designations ensure that our scenic landscapes are protected and make good sense from a tourism point of view."
www.buckplanning.ie
The power for the Minister to make this direction to Wicklow County Council - and the steps to be followed by the planning authority - are set out in sections 202 and 203 of the Planning and Development Act 2000. The Planning Acts provide that notification of the special amenity area order must be made in one or more local newspapers. The planning authority must then submit the order - together with any objections - to An Bord Pleanála for confirmation.
Where any objections to the order are not withdrawn, An Bord Pleanála is required to hold an oral hearing and to consider the objections. Following this, An Bord Pleanála may then confirm the order - with or without modifications - or refuse to confirm it.
Commenting, the Minister said - "my direction to make this order for the Great and Little Sugar Loaf Mountains follows on from the designation by Wicklow County Council of Bray Head as a special amenity area and the confirmation of this by An Bord Pleanála. These designations ensure that our scenic landscapes are protected and make good sense from a tourism point of view."
www.buckplanning.ie
Gormley unveils plan to overhaul local government
GREEN PARTY ANNUAL CONVENTION: THE RIGHT to petition councillors, town hall meetings for citizens, and regular plebiscites to decide important local questions form the basis of a radical overhaul of local government being drawn up by Green Party leader John Gormley, writes Harry McGee in Dundalk
Mr Gormley, the Minister for the Environment, last night unveiled some of the key components of the Green Paper on local government which will be published in 10 days' time.
Speaking at the opening of the Green Party's annual convention in Dundalk, Co Louth, Mr Gormley said it would deliver the biggest reform of local administration since 1898.
In addition to new initiatives to encourage people to become more involved in local democracy, Mr Gormley also said he proposes that the Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo) should have a greater role in policing councils.
The Green Paper will also propose a directly-elected mayor of Dublin with executive powers - this policy is already included in the Programme for Government.
Mr Gormley said the new measures, when implemented, would allow citizens to be centrally-involved in decisions taken at local level. "I want to see citizens given a say in budgetary decisions. There is no reason why the people should not decide what the spending priorities should be in their communities. I will be examining the increased use of plebiscites which would allow people shape major decisions to be taken by town, city and county councils."
Turning to his plans for a petition system, he said it would allow people gather signatures on pressing local issues and present them to the local council. The council would then be compelled to debate and decide the issue.
He floated the idea of town hall meetings for the first time. At these meetings, he said, councils could ask citizens for their views on certain issues and then act in accordance with them.
Mr Gormley argued that ethics laws that currently related to TDs and senators needed to be extended to councillors.
"At the moment councillors are required by law to each year declare interests and reveal any potential conflict of interest. But I believe enforcement in this area is weak. For this reason I am proposing that the Standards in Public Office Commission should have a greater role in policing local councils."
He intended to strengthen the enforcement aspect of planning laws to prevent planning decisions which were not in the best interests of communities.
The conference is the first since the Greens went into Government last June and its theme is "Vision into Action".
Mr Gormley will deliver his first address as party leader tonight.
The party's performance during its first nine months of Government will come under scrutiny. However, a majority of delegates who spoke to The Irish Times believed the party's participation in Government would be overwhelmingly endorsed.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Mr Gormley, the Minister for the Environment, last night unveiled some of the key components of the Green Paper on local government which will be published in 10 days' time.
Speaking at the opening of the Green Party's annual convention in Dundalk, Co Louth, Mr Gormley said it would deliver the biggest reform of local administration since 1898.
In addition to new initiatives to encourage people to become more involved in local democracy, Mr Gormley also said he proposes that the Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo) should have a greater role in policing councils.
The Green Paper will also propose a directly-elected mayor of Dublin with executive powers - this policy is already included in the Programme for Government.
Mr Gormley said the new measures, when implemented, would allow citizens to be centrally-involved in decisions taken at local level. "I want to see citizens given a say in budgetary decisions. There is no reason why the people should not decide what the spending priorities should be in their communities. I will be examining the increased use of plebiscites which would allow people shape major decisions to be taken by town, city and county councils."
Turning to his plans for a petition system, he said it would allow people gather signatures on pressing local issues and present them to the local council. The council would then be compelled to debate and decide the issue.
He floated the idea of town hall meetings for the first time. At these meetings, he said, councils could ask citizens for their views on certain issues and then act in accordance with them.
Mr Gormley argued that ethics laws that currently related to TDs and senators needed to be extended to councillors.
"At the moment councillors are required by law to each year declare interests and reveal any potential conflict of interest. But I believe enforcement in this area is weak. For this reason I am proposing that the Standards in Public Office Commission should have a greater role in policing local councils."
He intended to strengthen the enforcement aspect of planning laws to prevent planning decisions which were not in the best interests of communities.
The conference is the first since the Greens went into Government last June and its theme is "Vision into Action".
Mr Gormley will deliver his first address as party leader tonight.
The party's performance during its first nine months of Government will come under scrutiny. However, a majority of delegates who spoke to The Irish Times believed the party's participation in Government would be overwhelmingly endorsed.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Gormley hopes tribunals will 'root out all corruption'
Green Party leader John Gormley said tonight it was his party’s “fervent hope” that all the tribunals of inquiry will “root out forensically every last morsel of corruption from Irish political life”.
Addressing party members in Dundalk at the annual conference, Mr Gormley said the Greens’ position on standards in public life had not changed “one iota” since it entered Government last year.
“The Green Party has consistently expressed full confidence in the Mahon tribunal and expressed the hope that it will reach its conclusions quickly. And it is our fervent hope that all of the tribunals of inquiry will root out forensically every last morsel of corruption from Irish political life,” he said.
In a wide-ranging address, covering issues such as achievements in government, climate change and the crisis in Tibet, Mr Gormley said the Green Party was “a party with a purpose”.
“Unlike other parties, the Green Party has taken a principled position, perhaps to our own disadvantage, to refuse donations from big business,” he said.
“We have always said that we would look after our political morality. It has been said that when we were faced with the choice between looking after other parties' ethics and saving the planet, we took the easier option and decided to save the planet. And, rightly so – and we make no apologies.”
“It is our dedication to human rights, social justice and ecological sustainability which has motivated this party since its foundation. It is this dedication which has also motivated our insistence on high standards in public life.”
Mr Gormley told 600 delegates in Dundalk, Co Louth that the Green Party “understands the nature of political power, its opportunities and its limitations”.
“We knew, and recognised honestly, that we could never get everything we hoped for in government, but equally we knew that outside of government we could achieve nothing,” he said.
Mr Gormley said that when the Greens made “that momentous decision” to enter government, its primary motivation was to tackle “the defining issue of our age”, climate change.
He said it was vital that climate change now forms part of the social partnership discussions.
Mr Gormley noted the establishment of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Change and said the chair had been given to a member of the Opposition, Sean Barrett of Fine Gael.
“We appointed members of other opposition parties to key positions on State boards dealing with this issue because, frankly, these individuals were the best people for the job and because climate change is far too important to play politics with.
“This evening I appeal to members of the Opposition to reciprocate that generosity, put away the petty squabbling and the cheap shots, forget the negative nonsense, and come on board and work with us in the best interest of this country and our planet. Let us all agree on the targets and measures required to tackle climate change.”
Stating that climate change was the “biggest issue facing humanity”, the Green Party leader cited his carbon budget, a 43 per cent increase in funding for
the Environmental Protection Agency and changes to the car tax regime among the party’s achievements in government so far. He also noted plans to make low-energy lightbulbs compulsory from next January.
On Tibet, Mr Gormley said: “Respect for human rights must extend to all cultures and countries.
"One country which has been exploited and suppressed and suffered for far too long is Tibet. We condemn unequivocally the flagrant abuse of human rights by the Chinese government and call on the Chinese government to enter dialogue with the Dalai Lama.”
Mr Gormley also noted the death today of former president Dr Patrick Hillery.
"He was a very honourable statesman and we extend our sympathy to his family."
Ireland.com
www.buckplanning.ie
Addressing party members in Dundalk at the annual conference, Mr Gormley said the Greens’ position on standards in public life had not changed “one iota” since it entered Government last year.
“The Green Party has consistently expressed full confidence in the Mahon tribunal and expressed the hope that it will reach its conclusions quickly. And it is our fervent hope that all of the tribunals of inquiry will root out forensically every last morsel of corruption from Irish political life,” he said.
In a wide-ranging address, covering issues such as achievements in government, climate change and the crisis in Tibet, Mr Gormley said the Green Party was “a party with a purpose”.
“Unlike other parties, the Green Party has taken a principled position, perhaps to our own disadvantage, to refuse donations from big business,” he said.
“We have always said that we would look after our political morality. It has been said that when we were faced with the choice between looking after other parties' ethics and saving the planet, we took the easier option and decided to save the planet. And, rightly so – and we make no apologies.”
“It is our dedication to human rights, social justice and ecological sustainability which has motivated this party since its foundation. It is this dedication which has also motivated our insistence on high standards in public life.”
Mr Gormley told 600 delegates in Dundalk, Co Louth that the Green Party “understands the nature of political power, its opportunities and its limitations”.
“We knew, and recognised honestly, that we could never get everything we hoped for in government, but equally we knew that outside of government we could achieve nothing,” he said.
Mr Gormley said that when the Greens made “that momentous decision” to enter government, its primary motivation was to tackle “the defining issue of our age”, climate change.
He said it was vital that climate change now forms part of the social partnership discussions.
Mr Gormley noted the establishment of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Change and said the chair had been given to a member of the Opposition, Sean Barrett of Fine Gael.
“We appointed members of other opposition parties to key positions on State boards dealing with this issue because, frankly, these individuals were the best people for the job and because climate change is far too important to play politics with.
“This evening I appeal to members of the Opposition to reciprocate that generosity, put away the petty squabbling and the cheap shots, forget the negative nonsense, and come on board and work with us in the best interest of this country and our planet. Let us all agree on the targets and measures required to tackle climate change.”
Stating that climate change was the “biggest issue facing humanity”, the Green Party leader cited his carbon budget, a 43 per cent increase in funding for
the Environmental Protection Agency and changes to the car tax regime among the party’s achievements in government so far. He also noted plans to make low-energy lightbulbs compulsory from next January.
On Tibet, Mr Gormley said: “Respect for human rights must extend to all cultures and countries.
"One country which has been exploited and suppressed and suffered for far too long is Tibet. We condemn unequivocally the flagrant abuse of human rights by the Chinese government and call on the Chinese government to enter dialogue with the Dalai Lama.”
Mr Gormley also noted the death today of former president Dr Patrick Hillery.
"He was a very honourable statesman and we extend our sympathy to his family."
Ireland.com
www.buckplanning.ie
Thursday, 10 April 2008
Green Paper with elected mayor for Dublin to be published next week
PROPOSALS FOR a directly-elected mayor of Dublin are to be unveiled next week, the Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, has said.
They will be contained in the Green Paper on the reform of local government which is expected to strengthen the powers of councillors, create new local authorities and cap spending on elections.
The transformation of local government was one of the key issues for the Green Party while negotiating the programme for government with Fianna Fáil last year.
Mr Gormley said a directly-elected mayor for Dublin will be in place by 2011 with the power to transform the city in terms of litter, waste and transport.
Speaking at the launch of a countrywide initiative to tackle graffiti, Mr Gormley said a directly-elected mayor would be best placed to deal with issues like graffiti in Dublin as Ken Livingstone had done as mayor of London.
Livingstone brought in a voluntary ban on spray paints and his Capital Standards initiative tripled the number of fines being handed out for graffiti.
"They [ Londoners] have a directly elected mayor who has introduced a number of initiatives not just in relation to graffiti, but also transport and London has been transformed as a consequence," Mr Gormley said.
The Community Graffiti Reduction Programme here has been allocated €3.75 million.
Money will be available initially in deprived Rapid (Revitalising Areas through Planning, Investment and Development) areas only, but will become available for areas in the rest of the country later this year.
Funding will be available, not just for clean-up operations, but also to support education and community arts projects to give youngsters who are interested in graffiti an outdoor platform without defacing the environment.
Mr Gormley said that graffiti is an issue that is raised "again and again" by constituents and measures were being examined that would lead to more prosecutions especially for "taggers" who leave a signature.
The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform Brian Lenihan, who also attended the launch in Dublin yesterday, said creating a climate where graffiti did not flourish was "very important in the fight against crime".
"It creates the culture of compliance that we want to create in all our cities," he said.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
They will be contained in the Green Paper on the reform of local government which is expected to strengthen the powers of councillors, create new local authorities and cap spending on elections.
The transformation of local government was one of the key issues for the Green Party while negotiating the programme for government with Fianna Fáil last year.
Mr Gormley said a directly-elected mayor for Dublin will be in place by 2011 with the power to transform the city in terms of litter, waste and transport.
Speaking at the launch of a countrywide initiative to tackle graffiti, Mr Gormley said a directly-elected mayor would be best placed to deal with issues like graffiti in Dublin as Ken Livingstone had done as mayor of London.
Livingstone brought in a voluntary ban on spray paints and his Capital Standards initiative tripled the number of fines being handed out for graffiti.
"They [ Londoners] have a directly elected mayor who has introduced a number of initiatives not just in relation to graffiti, but also transport and London has been transformed as a consequence," Mr Gormley said.
The Community Graffiti Reduction Programme here has been allocated €3.75 million.
Money will be available initially in deprived Rapid (Revitalising Areas through Planning, Investment and Development) areas only, but will become available for areas in the rest of the country later this year.
Funding will be available, not just for clean-up operations, but also to support education and community arts projects to give youngsters who are interested in graffiti an outdoor platform without defacing the environment.
Mr Gormley said that graffiti is an issue that is raised "again and again" by constituents and measures were being examined that would lead to more prosecutions especially for "taggers" who leave a signature.
The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform Brian Lenihan, who also attended the launch in Dublin yesterday, said creating a climate where graffiti did not flourish was "very important in the fight against crime".
"It creates the culture of compliance that we want to create in all our cities," he said.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Minister urges County Council to add to protected structures list
Minister for the Environment and Local Government, John Gormley, has called on South Tipperary County Council to add buildings of regional, national and international importance to the list of protected structures in the county.
Speaking at the launch of his department's architectural inventory of South Tipperary in Clonmel last Friday evening, Minister Gormley also encouraged the County Council to appoint a Heritage Officer.
Our architectural heritage is something we should be proud of, Minister Gormley told the crowd gathered for the launch of the inventory and the accompanying book which features some of the highlights of the report - 'An Introduction to the Architectural Inventory of South Tipperary.'
The county has architecturally important building ranging from thatched cottages to cathedrals, the Minister pointed out, adding that many people use historic buildings every day but don't realise it. Most towns and villages have an historic area, maybe not a specific building but in their streetscape, he explained, and people should be aware of this, which is why his department are undertaking these inventories and books.
The Minister said he hoped that seeing the buildings included in the book would awaken a pride for local architecture in people.
Mentioning some of the highlights of the inventory and book, Minister Gormley pointed to the Church of Ireland cathedral in Cashel and St. Michael's church in Tipperary Town, which is architecturally distinct and has a special atmosphere.
Major country houses can be seen in the book, including Dundrum House, Cashel Palace, Marlfield House and Knocklofty House. Many of these have been converted to hotels but should still be cherished as part of our cultural heritage, according to Minister Gormley.
More humble houses are featured even more strongly in the inventory, he went on. There are about 100 thatched buildings in the county, he said, as well as numerous shop and public house fronts, especially in Tipperary Town.
Minister Gormley also mentioned the work of architect William Tinsley in Cahir and Clonmel, and the investment in the area by the Quakers which led to architectural set pieces.
"it is not just up to the state to protect these, there are a vast number of building in private ownership," the Minster told those gathered for the launch. Grants are available for the upkeep of these.
The appointment of a Heritage Officer would help with the management of these buildings and give pre-planning advice to building owners, the Minister said.
Being on the register of protected structures can be a concern for some homeowners, the Minister accepted, but he was quick to reassure them that preservation was about the 'management of change' and not making it difficult for them to care for the buildings.
Coming to the end of his address, Minister Gormley spoke to the representatives of South Tipperary County Council in attendance when he encouraged them to add the buildings in the inventory to the list of protected structures, which comes under the Planning and Development Act. Minister Gormley said he would be sending each councillor a copy of the book and looking for their support in this.
Also at the launch were Chairman of South Tipperary County Council, John Fahey, and Mayor of Clonmel, Richie Molloy.
Cllr Fahey said he had no doubt the publications would prove invaluable for both practitioners and academics alike in understanding the architectural heritage of the county. "We are very lucky in South Tipperary to have such a rich architectural heritage and indeed to have someone the calibre of Barry O'Reilly for the management of the survey here in South Tipperary."
Mayor Molloy observed that South Tipperary and Clonmel are both very rich in architectural heritage and that this is something that is not played up enough in attracting tourists.
The Nationalist
www.buckplanning.ie
Speaking at the launch of his department's architectural inventory of South Tipperary in Clonmel last Friday evening, Minister Gormley also encouraged the County Council to appoint a Heritage Officer.
Our architectural heritage is something we should be proud of, Minister Gormley told the crowd gathered for the launch of the inventory and the accompanying book which features some of the highlights of the report - 'An Introduction to the Architectural Inventory of South Tipperary.'
The county has architecturally important building ranging from thatched cottages to cathedrals, the Minister pointed out, adding that many people use historic buildings every day but don't realise it. Most towns and villages have an historic area, maybe not a specific building but in their streetscape, he explained, and people should be aware of this, which is why his department are undertaking these inventories and books.
The Minister said he hoped that seeing the buildings included in the book would awaken a pride for local architecture in people.
Mentioning some of the highlights of the inventory and book, Minister Gormley pointed to the Church of Ireland cathedral in Cashel and St. Michael's church in Tipperary Town, which is architecturally distinct and has a special atmosphere.
Major country houses can be seen in the book, including Dundrum House, Cashel Palace, Marlfield House and Knocklofty House. Many of these have been converted to hotels but should still be cherished as part of our cultural heritage, according to Minister Gormley.
More humble houses are featured even more strongly in the inventory, he went on. There are about 100 thatched buildings in the county, he said, as well as numerous shop and public house fronts, especially in Tipperary Town.
Minister Gormley also mentioned the work of architect William Tinsley in Cahir and Clonmel, and the investment in the area by the Quakers which led to architectural set pieces.
"it is not just up to the state to protect these, there are a vast number of building in private ownership," the Minster told those gathered for the launch. Grants are available for the upkeep of these.
The appointment of a Heritage Officer would help with the management of these buildings and give pre-planning advice to building owners, the Minister said.
Being on the register of protected structures can be a concern for some homeowners, the Minister accepted, but he was quick to reassure them that preservation was about the 'management of change' and not making it difficult for them to care for the buildings.
Coming to the end of his address, Minister Gormley spoke to the representatives of South Tipperary County Council in attendance when he encouraged them to add the buildings in the inventory to the list of protected structures, which comes under the Planning and Development Act. Minister Gormley said he would be sending each councillor a copy of the book and looking for their support in this.
Also at the launch were Chairman of South Tipperary County Council, John Fahey, and Mayor of Clonmel, Richie Molloy.
Cllr Fahey said he had no doubt the publications would prove invaluable for both practitioners and academics alike in understanding the architectural heritage of the county. "We are very lucky in South Tipperary to have such a rich architectural heritage and indeed to have someone the calibre of Barry O'Reilly for the management of the survey here in South Tipperary."
Mayor Molloy observed that South Tipperary and Clonmel are both very rich in architectural heritage and that this is something that is not played up enough in attracting tourists.
The Nationalist
www.buckplanning.ie
Saturday, 5 April 2008
Gormley to tackle 'greedy' landowners
The soaring cost of building land is making vital infrastructure unaffordable, Environment Minister John Gormley has warned.
The minister promised measures to tackle the situation when he addressed the annual conference of the Irish Planning Institute (IPI) in Westport, Co Mayo and said he would be introducing a designated land bill in the autumn.
The attack on rising land prices came shortly after the Department of Education was forced to pay €45m for a school site.
Mr Gormley said it was a major problem that huge rights are afforded to private property owners under the Constitution. "We cannot govern if the price of building land continues to escalate in this way," Mr Gormley stated.
With the Department of Education recently being forced to pay €45m for a school site, the Minister said the situation was now making schools unaffordable and making it hugely expensive to provide infrastructure.
The minister indicated that he agreed with a suggestion at the conference earlier by IPI President Andrew Hind that developers should be required to pay more towards the cost of providing schools, public water and sewage facilities, roads and footpaths and public transport infrastructure.
In the keynote speech to the conference, Mr Hind said the combined effect of our planning and taxation systems seems to have facilitated the making of vast personal and corporate fortunes by landowners and developers while at the same time many developments lack basic social and physical infrastructure and sustainable transport options.
While State and local authorities have to produce vast sums of money to remedy the problem, landowners and developers "are immersed in colossal profits."
Problems
Mr Hind said that one of the problems the Government has faced in recent years has been that of providing the social and physical infrastructure for new developments.
"All around the country our failure to deliver properly designed water and waste water infrastructure has left not just individual houses but significant residential areas with sub-standard water supplies and waste water treatment infrastructure," he added.
Too many developments lacked even basic social and physical infrastructure.
Mr Hind called for an urgent revision of the system of contributions which developers and landowners have to pay.
Tom Shiel and Treacy Hogan
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
The minister promised measures to tackle the situation when he addressed the annual conference of the Irish Planning Institute (IPI) in Westport, Co Mayo and said he would be introducing a designated land bill in the autumn.
The attack on rising land prices came shortly after the Department of Education was forced to pay €45m for a school site.
Mr Gormley said it was a major problem that huge rights are afforded to private property owners under the Constitution. "We cannot govern if the price of building land continues to escalate in this way," Mr Gormley stated.
With the Department of Education recently being forced to pay €45m for a school site, the Minister said the situation was now making schools unaffordable and making it hugely expensive to provide infrastructure.
The minister indicated that he agreed with a suggestion at the conference earlier by IPI President Andrew Hind that developers should be required to pay more towards the cost of providing schools, public water and sewage facilities, roads and footpaths and public transport infrastructure.
In the keynote speech to the conference, Mr Hind said the combined effect of our planning and taxation systems seems to have facilitated the making of vast personal and corporate fortunes by landowners and developers while at the same time many developments lack basic social and physical infrastructure and sustainable transport options.
While State and local authorities have to produce vast sums of money to remedy the problem, landowners and developers "are immersed in colossal profits."
Problems
Mr Hind said that one of the problems the Government has faced in recent years has been that of providing the social and physical infrastructure for new developments.
"All around the country our failure to deliver properly designed water and waste water infrastructure has left not just individual houses but significant residential areas with sub-standard water supplies and waste water treatment infrastructure," he added.
Too many developments lacked even basic social and physical infrastructure.
Mr Hind called for an urgent revision of the system of contributions which developers and landowners have to pay.
Tom Shiel and Treacy Hogan
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Gormley to target windfall profits of developers
DEVELOPER CONTRIBUTIONS: MINISTER FOR the Environment John Gormley has told local authority planners he intends to bring in new legislation to tap into windfall gains made by landowners and property developers.
He also said he has no problem with an escalation of developer contributions for public facilities such as schools and public transport.
Speaking after he delivered the keynote address at the Irish Planning Institute annual conference in Westport, Co Mayo, yesterday, Mr Gormley said he believed the Attorney General had found a way around constitutional difficulties with windfall taxes and such a measure now had the backing of his Cabinet colleagues.
Mr Gormley said he sympathised with the position of the president of the planning institute, Andrew Hind, that current laws facilitated the making of personal and corporate fortunes by landowners and developers, while at the same time many developments lack basic social and physical infrastructure as well as public transport.
The Minister said the link between property developers and some of the larger parties has been alluded to on many occasions, but he added that there was a consensus building around the need for developers to contribute more. "We have to think of the common good," he maintained.
"We are all agreed that the integration of schools, community facilities, employment, transport and amenities with the housing development process in a timely, cost-effective and sustainable manner is essential," he remarked.
Mr Gormley said the aim of his legislation would be to secure a greater share of those profits to fund schools and metro systems. But he told the planners the State needed to further improve the scale, pattern and location of development, especially with regard to newly-zoned lands.
He said of late this had occurred around the gateways, hubs, county towns and other urban centres earmarked in the National Spatial Strategy. It led, he said, to unco-ordinated development and expensive servicing and environmental costs. "I am examining policy and legislative measures necessary to support achieving the consistency I refer to," he remarked.
Mr Hind said the State and local authorities had to produce vast sums of money to remedy problems caused by shoddy development while landowners and developers appear immersed in colossal one-off windfall profits.
He called for an urgent revision of the system of contributions which developers and landowners have to pay: "To cope with our growing population, developers should be required to pay more towards the cost of providing schools, public water and sewage facilities, roads and footpaths and public transport infrastructure," he said.
Mr Hind said the Town and Regional Planning Act 1934 - the country's first planning legislation - included provisions that allowed local authorities to demand that those whose land and property benefited from the provision of new public infrastructure should pay 75 per cent of the value added to their land or property, back to the authority within one year of being asked.
"The problem we face today is that in most local authorities the revenue arising from development contributions is nothing like enough to pay for the level of infrastructure spending required in the area. In many ways the problem is a simple one: developers and landowners are not paying a large enough share of the cost of properly servicing their development with social as well as physical infrastructure," Mr Hind said.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
He also said he has no problem with an escalation of developer contributions for public facilities such as schools and public transport.
Speaking after he delivered the keynote address at the Irish Planning Institute annual conference in Westport, Co Mayo, yesterday, Mr Gormley said he believed the Attorney General had found a way around constitutional difficulties with windfall taxes and such a measure now had the backing of his Cabinet colleagues.
Mr Gormley said he sympathised with the position of the president of the planning institute, Andrew Hind, that current laws facilitated the making of personal and corporate fortunes by landowners and developers, while at the same time many developments lack basic social and physical infrastructure as well as public transport.
The Minister said the link between property developers and some of the larger parties has been alluded to on many occasions, but he added that there was a consensus building around the need for developers to contribute more. "We have to think of the common good," he maintained.
"We are all agreed that the integration of schools, community facilities, employment, transport and amenities with the housing development process in a timely, cost-effective and sustainable manner is essential," he remarked.
Mr Gormley said the aim of his legislation would be to secure a greater share of those profits to fund schools and metro systems. But he told the planners the State needed to further improve the scale, pattern and location of development, especially with regard to newly-zoned lands.
He said of late this had occurred around the gateways, hubs, county towns and other urban centres earmarked in the National Spatial Strategy. It led, he said, to unco-ordinated development and expensive servicing and environmental costs. "I am examining policy and legislative measures necessary to support achieving the consistency I refer to," he remarked.
Mr Hind said the State and local authorities had to produce vast sums of money to remedy problems caused by shoddy development while landowners and developers appear immersed in colossal one-off windfall profits.
He called for an urgent revision of the system of contributions which developers and landowners have to pay: "To cope with our growing population, developers should be required to pay more towards the cost of providing schools, public water and sewage facilities, roads and footpaths and public transport infrastructure," he said.
Mr Hind said the Town and Regional Planning Act 1934 - the country's first planning legislation - included provisions that allowed local authorities to demand that those whose land and property benefited from the provision of new public infrastructure should pay 75 per cent of the value added to their land or property, back to the authority within one year of being asked.
"The problem we face today is that in most local authorities the revenue arising from development contributions is nothing like enough to pay for the level of infrastructure spending required in the area. In many ways the problem is a simple one: developers and landowners are not paying a large enough share of the cost of properly servicing their development with social as well as physical infrastructure," Mr Hind said.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Gormley to target windfall profits of developers
DEVELOPER CONTRIBUTIONS: MINISTER FOR the Environment John Gormley has told local authority planners he intends to bring in new legislation to tap into windfall gains made by landowners and property developers.
He also said he has no problem with an escalation of developer contributions for public facilities such as schools and public transport.
Speaking after he delivered the keynote address at the Irish Planning Institute annual conference in Westport, Co Mayo, yesterday, Mr Gormley said he believed the Attorney General had found a way around constitutional difficulties with windfall taxes and such a measure now had the backing of his Cabinet colleagues.
Mr Gormley said he sympathised with the position of the president of the planning institute, Andrew Hind, that current laws facilitated the making of personal and corporate fortunes by landowners and developers, while at the same time many developments lack basic social and physical infrastructure as well as public transport.
The Minister said the link between property developers and some of the larger parties has been alluded to on many occasions, but he added that there was a consensus building around the need for developers to contribute more. "We have to think of the common good," he maintained.
"We are all agreed that the integration of schools, community facilities, employment, transport and amenities with the housing development process in a timely, cost-effective and sustainable manner is essential," he remarked.
Mr Gormley said the aim of his legislation would be to secure a greater share of those profits to fund schools and metro systems. But he told the planners the State needed to further improve the scale, pattern and location of development, especially with regard to newly-zoned lands.
He said of late this had occurred around the gateways, hubs, county towns and other urban centres earmarked in the National Spatial Strategy. It led, he said, to unco-ordinated development and expensive servicing and environmental costs. "I am examining policy and legislative measures necessary to support achieving the consistency I refer to," he remarked.
Mr Hind said the State and local authorities had to produce vast sums of money to remedy problems caused by shoddy development while landowners and developers appear immersed in colossal one-off windfall profits.
He called for an urgent revision of the system of contributions which developers and landowners have to pay: "To cope with our growing population, developers should be required to pay more towards the cost of providing schools, public water and sewage facilities, roads and footpaths and public transport infrastructure," he said.
Mr Hind said the Town and Regional Planning Act 1934 - the country's first planning legislation - included provisions that allowed local authorities to demand that those whose land and property benefited from the provision of new public infrastructure should pay 75 per cent of the value added to their land or property, back to the authority within one year of being asked.
"The problem we face today is that in most local authorities the revenue arising from development contributions is nothing like enough to pay for the level of infrastructure spending required in the area. In many ways the problem is a simple one: developers and landowners are not paying a large enough share of the cost of properly servicing their development with social as well as physical infrastructure," Mr Hind said.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
He also said he has no problem with an escalation of developer contributions for public facilities such as schools and public transport.
Speaking after he delivered the keynote address at the Irish Planning Institute annual conference in Westport, Co Mayo, yesterday, Mr Gormley said he believed the Attorney General had found a way around constitutional difficulties with windfall taxes and such a measure now had the backing of his Cabinet colleagues.
Mr Gormley said he sympathised with the position of the president of the planning institute, Andrew Hind, that current laws facilitated the making of personal and corporate fortunes by landowners and developers, while at the same time many developments lack basic social and physical infrastructure as well as public transport.
The Minister said the link between property developers and some of the larger parties has been alluded to on many occasions, but he added that there was a consensus building around the need for developers to contribute more. "We have to think of the common good," he maintained.
"We are all agreed that the integration of schools, community facilities, employment, transport and amenities with the housing development process in a timely, cost-effective and sustainable manner is essential," he remarked.
Mr Gormley said the aim of his legislation would be to secure a greater share of those profits to fund schools and metro systems. But he told the planners the State needed to further improve the scale, pattern and location of development, especially with regard to newly-zoned lands.
He said of late this had occurred around the gateways, hubs, county towns and other urban centres earmarked in the National Spatial Strategy. It led, he said, to unco-ordinated development and expensive servicing and environmental costs. "I am examining policy and legislative measures necessary to support achieving the consistency I refer to," he remarked.
Mr Hind said the State and local authorities had to produce vast sums of money to remedy problems caused by shoddy development while landowners and developers appear immersed in colossal one-off windfall profits.
He called for an urgent revision of the system of contributions which developers and landowners have to pay: "To cope with our growing population, developers should be required to pay more towards the cost of providing schools, public water and sewage facilities, roads and footpaths and public transport infrastructure," he said.
Mr Hind said the Town and Regional Planning Act 1934 - the country's first planning legislation - included provisions that allowed local authorities to demand that those whose land and property benefited from the provision of new public infrastructure should pay 75 per cent of the value added to their land or property, back to the authority within one year of being asked.
"The problem we face today is that in most local authorities the revenue arising from development contributions is nothing like enough to pay for the level of infrastructure spending required in the area. In many ways the problem is a simple one: developers and landowners are not paying a large enough share of the cost of properly servicing their development with social as well as physical infrastructure," Mr Hind said.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Wednesday, 26 March 2008
Gormley to intervene in row over industrial rezoning
ENVIRONMENT Minister John Gormley is to intervene with Waterford County Council over the controversy surrounding the rezoning of plots of land in the greater Dungarvan area.
A major garda investigation is under way into alleged planning irregularities in Dungarvan, with a number of local politicians quizzed by detectives in the past fortnight.
The rezoning issues being examined all relate to planning matters over the past decade.
Yesterday, it was officially learned that the Department of the Environment is now to intervene. Officials are to write to Waterford County Council to make a specific request that they do not move ahead with proposed variations -- rezonings -- in the county development plan.
Minister Gormley believes there has been an "excess of rezoning" in the area, with a particular focus on land zoned industrial.
Concerns
He said: "I can't comment on the garda investigation. However, I and my department have had concerns going back to last year concerning some rezoning proposals, specifically the proposed rezoning of some land for industrial purposes. "I'll be asking my department to write out and engage with Waterford County Council on this issue."
It is understood that Mr Gormley will proceed to invoke Section 31 of the Planning and Development Act if the local authority fails to act on his request, meaning he can override their designations and block any proposed changes of use.
Last year Mr Gormley applied the provisions of Section 31 in order to overturn a series of rezonings ordered in Monaghan, which would have had the effect of quintupling the population of some villages.
The current garda probe was launched in early 2005, when a Waterford County Council employee raised concerns over specific planning matters with senior local authority officials.
After an internal inquiry, the matter was referred to the gardai. One person has already been charged in relation to the investigation, and a number of arrests made under anti-corruption legislation.
Senan Molony Deputy Political Editor
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
A major garda investigation is under way into alleged planning irregularities in Dungarvan, with a number of local politicians quizzed by detectives in the past fortnight.
The rezoning issues being examined all relate to planning matters over the past decade.
Yesterday, it was officially learned that the Department of the Environment is now to intervene. Officials are to write to Waterford County Council to make a specific request that they do not move ahead with proposed variations -- rezonings -- in the county development plan.
Minister Gormley believes there has been an "excess of rezoning" in the area, with a particular focus on land zoned industrial.
Concerns
He said: "I can't comment on the garda investigation. However, I and my department have had concerns going back to last year concerning some rezoning proposals, specifically the proposed rezoning of some land for industrial purposes. "I'll be asking my department to write out and engage with Waterford County Council on this issue."
It is understood that Mr Gormley will proceed to invoke Section 31 of the Planning and Development Act if the local authority fails to act on his request, meaning he can override their designations and block any proposed changes of use.
Last year Mr Gormley applied the provisions of Section 31 in order to overturn a series of rezonings ordered in Monaghan, which would have had the effect of quintupling the population of some villages.
The current garda probe was launched in early 2005, when a Waterford County Council employee raised concerns over specific planning matters with senior local authority officials.
After an internal inquiry, the matter was referred to the gardai. One person has already been charged in relation to the investigation, and a number of arrests made under anti-corruption legislation.
Senan Molony Deputy Political Editor
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Saturday, 29 December 2007
Minister Gormley launches the Irish Walled Towns Book
The Minister for Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Mr John Gormley, T.D. has launched the 'Irish Walled Towns Book'.
The extensively illustrated book aims to bring the history of Ireland's Walled Towns to life. It seeks to convey the stories and accounts of the main personalities involved in their development and evolution and explores the wider role of these fortified towns in Ireland's socio-economic history.
It provides a useful baseline to inform the future conservation, preservation, management and promotion of these iconic settlements for the benefit of current and future generations in Ireland and for all visitors to our island.
Speaking at the launch, the Minister said - "Experience in conservation has shown that it is not enough to be concerned with work required to physically secure the remaining walls and structures. It is equally important to ensure that local people are fully involved in the conservation and management process. Therefore, the story of Walled Towns' works need to be communicated to a wide audience in a vibrant and interesting manner. The Walled Towns Book is a further example of the innovative approach taken by the members of the Network."
Pointing to the very significant tourist attraction which Walled Towns represent, the Minister said - "I understand that Fáilte Ireland will be launching this publication in New York and in Washington during the St Patrick's Day celebrations to promote tourism from the US to these locations."
The Heritage Council established the Irish Walled Towns Network in April 2005 to unite and co-ordinate the strategic efforts of local authorities involved in the management and conservation of historic walled towns in Ireland - both North and South. The network has grown to 20 members.
The book is the result of an eight-month consultative and information-gathering period - involving the Heritage Council and the Irish Walled Towns Network, the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Local Authorities, the Royal Irish Academy, the National Library, Trinity College Dublin and NUI Maynooth.
www.buckplanning.ie
The extensively illustrated book aims to bring the history of Ireland's Walled Towns to life. It seeks to convey the stories and accounts of the main personalities involved in their development and evolution and explores the wider role of these fortified towns in Ireland's socio-economic history.
It provides a useful baseline to inform the future conservation, preservation, management and promotion of these iconic settlements for the benefit of current and future generations in Ireland and for all visitors to our island.
Speaking at the launch, the Minister said - "Experience in conservation has shown that it is not enough to be concerned with work required to physically secure the remaining walls and structures. It is equally important to ensure that local people are fully involved in the conservation and management process. Therefore, the story of Walled Towns' works need to be communicated to a wide audience in a vibrant and interesting manner. The Walled Towns Book is a further example of the innovative approach taken by the members of the Network."
Pointing to the very significant tourist attraction which Walled Towns represent, the Minister said - "I understand that Fáilte Ireland will be launching this publication in New York and in Washington during the St Patrick's Day celebrations to promote tourism from the US to these locations."
The Heritage Council established the Irish Walled Towns Network in April 2005 to unite and co-ordinate the strategic efforts of local authorities involved in the management and conservation of historic walled towns in Ireland - both North and South. The network has grown to 20 members.
The book is the result of an eight-month consultative and information-gathering period - involving the Heritage Council and the Irish Walled Towns Network, the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Local Authorities, the Royal Irish Academy, the National Library, Trinity College Dublin and NUI Maynooth.
www.buckplanning.ie
Saturday, 22 December 2007
Several shades of Green
Environment: Only six months in Government, and already the Green Party has discovered that power brings its problems, writes Frank McDonald , Environment Editor.
Getting into Government was a baptism of fire for Green Party leader John Gormley. On the day he took office last June, he was informed that his predecessor, Dick Roche, had signed an order for the "preservation by record" of a newly found national monument at Lismullen on the route of the M3 motorway.
Re-routing the M3 away from the Hill of Tara and the archaeological landscape that surrounds it was one of the Greens' demands in the negotiations to form a Government, but their Fianna Fáil partners wouldn't budge; the motorway was to go ahead as planned. Legally, there was nothing the new Minister could do to set aside Roche's directions that the prehistoric Lismullen henge should be archaeologically excavated, properly recorded and then removed from the path of the M3.
Gormley pledged to protect Tara and its environs by designating it a "landscape conservation area", even though this was an essentially meaningless gesture when the Gabhra Valley between the ancient seat of Ireland's high kings and the Hill of Skryne to the east was about to be scarred by a motorway snaking right through it.
But the new Minister, whose portfolio includes heritage protection, repeatedly said he had no authority to order a re-routing of the M3. Campaigners for the preservation of Tara's setting were outraged by what they saw as a betrayal of their cause by a party all too anxious to get its hands on the levers of power.
Five months later, Gormley suffered a major political setback when An Bord Pleanála decided unanimously to approve plans by Dublin City Council for a huge municipal waste incinerator on the Poolbeg peninsula - a highly contentious project that he had vigorously opposed as one of the local TDs. Again, there was nothing he could do to alter the outcome. Under the Planning Act 2000, the Minister for the Environment is debarred from interfering in the deliberations of the planning appeals board or, indeed, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which issued a draft licence for the proposed "waste-to-energy" plant a week later.
All Gormley could do - and he did so regularly over several months - was to indicate quite publicly that national waste-management policy favouring incineration was in the process of being changed. However, it hadn't been changed by statute, so An Bord Pleanála and the EPA could only base their decisions on existing policy.
The fact that the appeals board declined to cap the tonnage of waste to be incinerated at the Poolbeg plant - as its own senior planning inspector, Padraig Thornton, had recommended - made its decision an even more bitter pill to swallow; it certainly didn't go down well in Ringsend, Irishtown and Sandymount.
The Minister may seek to circumvent approval for the incinerator by issuing a policy directive under the Waste Management Act 1996 that would have the effect of undermining the economic viability of the project. But it is difficult to see how he could set aside the council's contract with a Danish-American consortium lined up to run it.
However, there were many things Gormley could do to advance the "green agenda". For example, he moved swiftly in publishing an amendment to the building regulations that would increase the energy-efficiency of new homes by 40 per cent. Another measure, which he announced in the State's first "carbon budget" earlier this month, will ban wasteful incandescent light bulbs from the Irish market from January 1st, 2009. This is expected to deliver carbon emissions savings of up to 700,000 tonnes per year and cut householders' electricity bills by €185 million annually.
Gormley's party colleague, Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan, has published a draft Energy Efficiency Action Plan, which provides additional funding for the highly successful Greener Homes Scheme as well as a limited "initial pilot programme" to encourage owners of older houses to upgrade their energy performance.
CHANGES IN MOTOR taxation, with all vehicles to be rated exclusively on the basis of their CO2 emissions (with larger ones such as SUVs paying proportionately more), are designed to enable motorists to make more informed choices in buying new vehicles - so that, ultimately, the "gas guzzlers" will be shunned as much as energy-wasting fridges.
However, as Gormley noted in his carbon budget speech, emissions from Ireland's transport sector have risen by 180 per cent since 1990 - mainly as a result of the spectacular increase in car ownership and use. Yet the lion's share (€2.7 billion) of public investment in transport during 2008 is earmarked for more roads and motorways.
The Minister billed the first "pilot" carbon budget as bringing climate change to "the heart of Government decision-making" - putting it on a par with managing the economy.
"We have to think carbon," he told the Dáil on December 6th. "If we are to successfully tackle climate change, if we have to de-carbonise society, then we have to put a price on carbon, and I hope that all deputies in this House will begin to understand the necessity of a carbon levy." Obviously, many of his Fianna Fáil colleagues in Government didn't share this view, because there was no provision in the Minister's carbon budget to impose such a levy. Instead, the issue was referred for further study to the proposed Commission on Taxation, which could take years to report back. In short, the carbon levy was flunked.
Comhar, the Sustainable Development Council, which sees the levy as key to ensuring that we meet our Kyoto Protocol targets, was disappointed. "Every year that passes without a levy is a year lost in making the progress that has to be made," said chairman Prof Frank Convery. "It is imperative that we introduce this levy in the next 12 months."The decision to kick for touch, even on the introduction of a modest €5 per tonne, would suggest that Minister for Finance Brian Cowen has yet to "buy in" to the firm pledge in the Programme for Government that the State would reduce its CO2 emissions by an average of 3 per cent, year on year, between now and 2012, when the current Kyoto "commitment period" is due to expire.
Budget Day provides the clearest indication of a Government's priorities, and this year's was no exception. However it was dressed up by Gormley in his carbon budget speech, it is evident that the Green Party has a tough road to travel in effecting real change.
Ireland's ranking in 44th place (out of 56 countries) in the latest Climate Change Performance Index will have come as a disappointment to the Greens. But then, they're barely more than six months in office and it will take a lot more time for them to make an impact.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Getting into Government was a baptism of fire for Green Party leader John Gormley. On the day he took office last June, he was informed that his predecessor, Dick Roche, had signed an order for the "preservation by record" of a newly found national monument at Lismullen on the route of the M3 motorway.
Re-routing the M3 away from the Hill of Tara and the archaeological landscape that surrounds it was one of the Greens' demands in the negotiations to form a Government, but their Fianna Fáil partners wouldn't budge; the motorway was to go ahead as planned. Legally, there was nothing the new Minister could do to set aside Roche's directions that the prehistoric Lismullen henge should be archaeologically excavated, properly recorded and then removed from the path of the M3.
Gormley pledged to protect Tara and its environs by designating it a "landscape conservation area", even though this was an essentially meaningless gesture when the Gabhra Valley between the ancient seat of Ireland's high kings and the Hill of Skryne to the east was about to be scarred by a motorway snaking right through it.
But the new Minister, whose portfolio includes heritage protection, repeatedly said he had no authority to order a re-routing of the M3. Campaigners for the preservation of Tara's setting were outraged by what they saw as a betrayal of their cause by a party all too anxious to get its hands on the levers of power.
Five months later, Gormley suffered a major political setback when An Bord Pleanála decided unanimously to approve plans by Dublin City Council for a huge municipal waste incinerator on the Poolbeg peninsula - a highly contentious project that he had vigorously opposed as one of the local TDs. Again, there was nothing he could do to alter the outcome. Under the Planning Act 2000, the Minister for the Environment is debarred from interfering in the deliberations of the planning appeals board or, indeed, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which issued a draft licence for the proposed "waste-to-energy" plant a week later.
All Gormley could do - and he did so regularly over several months - was to indicate quite publicly that national waste-management policy favouring incineration was in the process of being changed. However, it hadn't been changed by statute, so An Bord Pleanála and the EPA could only base their decisions on existing policy.
The fact that the appeals board declined to cap the tonnage of waste to be incinerated at the Poolbeg plant - as its own senior planning inspector, Padraig Thornton, had recommended - made its decision an even more bitter pill to swallow; it certainly didn't go down well in Ringsend, Irishtown and Sandymount.
The Minister may seek to circumvent approval for the incinerator by issuing a policy directive under the Waste Management Act 1996 that would have the effect of undermining the economic viability of the project. But it is difficult to see how he could set aside the council's contract with a Danish-American consortium lined up to run it.
However, there were many things Gormley could do to advance the "green agenda". For example, he moved swiftly in publishing an amendment to the building regulations that would increase the energy-efficiency of new homes by 40 per cent. Another measure, which he announced in the State's first "carbon budget" earlier this month, will ban wasteful incandescent light bulbs from the Irish market from January 1st, 2009. This is expected to deliver carbon emissions savings of up to 700,000 tonnes per year and cut householders' electricity bills by €185 million annually.
Gormley's party colleague, Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan, has published a draft Energy Efficiency Action Plan, which provides additional funding for the highly successful Greener Homes Scheme as well as a limited "initial pilot programme" to encourage owners of older houses to upgrade their energy performance.
CHANGES IN MOTOR taxation, with all vehicles to be rated exclusively on the basis of their CO2 emissions (with larger ones such as SUVs paying proportionately more), are designed to enable motorists to make more informed choices in buying new vehicles - so that, ultimately, the "gas guzzlers" will be shunned as much as energy-wasting fridges.
However, as Gormley noted in his carbon budget speech, emissions from Ireland's transport sector have risen by 180 per cent since 1990 - mainly as a result of the spectacular increase in car ownership and use. Yet the lion's share (€2.7 billion) of public investment in transport during 2008 is earmarked for more roads and motorways.
The Minister billed the first "pilot" carbon budget as bringing climate change to "the heart of Government decision-making" - putting it on a par with managing the economy.
"We have to think carbon," he told the Dáil on December 6th. "If we are to successfully tackle climate change, if we have to de-carbonise society, then we have to put a price on carbon, and I hope that all deputies in this House will begin to understand the necessity of a carbon levy." Obviously, many of his Fianna Fáil colleagues in Government didn't share this view, because there was no provision in the Minister's carbon budget to impose such a levy. Instead, the issue was referred for further study to the proposed Commission on Taxation, which could take years to report back. In short, the carbon levy was flunked.
Comhar, the Sustainable Development Council, which sees the levy as key to ensuring that we meet our Kyoto Protocol targets, was disappointed. "Every year that passes without a levy is a year lost in making the progress that has to be made," said chairman Prof Frank Convery. "It is imperative that we introduce this levy in the next 12 months."The decision to kick for touch, even on the introduction of a modest €5 per tonne, would suggest that Minister for Finance Brian Cowen has yet to "buy in" to the firm pledge in the Programme for Government that the State would reduce its CO2 emissions by an average of 3 per cent, year on year, between now and 2012, when the current Kyoto "commitment period" is due to expire.
Budget Day provides the clearest indication of a Government's priorities, and this year's was no exception. However it was dressed up by Gormley in his carbon budget speech, it is evident that the Green Party has a tough road to travel in effecting real change.
Ireland's ranking in 44th place (out of 56 countries) in the latest Climate Change Performance Index will have come as a disappointment to the Greens. But then, they're barely more than six months in office and it will take a lot more time for them to make an impact.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Sunday, 4 November 2007
John Gormley: The Phoenix Profile
THE Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, has well and truly arrived. In just a few weeks last summer, the Green Party activist became leader of his party, a member of government and a full cabinet member with the added bonus that his departmental portfolio is that of environment. But there is a view that the only way now for Gormley and the party is down; that the party has lost its soul for a few doubtful concessions and that the Greens are a modern representation of George Orwell's Animal Farm. Can Gormley and Co avoid being swallowed up by Fianna Fáil or will their performance in government persuade voters they are a credible, long-term political force?
Last Saturday week, the Minister for the Environment officiated at the opening of an organic food market during National Organic Week - the sort of occasion that ministers enjoy as they bask in the aura of their office without any unpleasant barracking or criticism from opposition politicians. However, while all those present listened respectfully until the conclusion of his speech, a member of Tara Watch then asked Gormley if he had anything to say about the M 3 motorway, a most sensitive issue for the Greens. Gormley was incensed at this impertinence and barked at the questioner that this was neither the time nor the place for such an issue, adding, "I know who you are and I will talk to you another time."
It usually takes the infinitely more experienced Fianna Fáil politicians five years or more to lose their sense of proportion and become above themselves and their constituents - and those at the organic function were most definitely Gormley's ‘people' - but Gormley has undergone a serious transformation in recent months. Time was when Gormley would have been the heckler at some sleek, political fat cat in a merc. Indeed, shortly before his reelection in Dublin South-East last summer, Gormley bearded Michael McDowell in Ranelagh in that celebrated street brawl which, in retrospect, marked the end of the former PD leader and the beginning of the new Green leader's emergence as an establishment politician.
Gormley is now part of the club he has for long barracked so effectively and his tetchiness under fire is typical of politicians from small, radical parties who have made it into government. But there is a more fundamental political reason for Gormley's paranoia, namely, the wholesale abandonment of the party's political programme in order to get into government and the fear that this could presage political Armageddon in five years time.
Gormley has always tried to have it both ways, combining a radical image with an orthodox career ambition as well as methods that owe as much to FF as the Greens. Nearly 20 years ago, Gormley threatened a freesheet publication, Executive News, with legal action unless they retracted a quote that the then fledgling journalist, Maeve Sheehan, claimed he had uttered when she interviewed him. According to Sheehan, Gormley was most uncomplimentary about the then European Green icon Petra Kelly, saying she had not done enough to assist the Greens in the 1989 European election and also casting further unflattering aspersions on Kelly. But Gormley later denied uttering the quote, threatening the freesheet with legal action unless they withdrew it. Gormley also arrived at Goldhawk's door with his Dail assistant demanding that Goldhawk desist from repeating the full quote as published by Executive News and he followed up with correspondence threatening legal action.
MODERNISER
Gormley was one of the first strong Green personalities in Irish life but he was also one of the first to effect the transformation of the Greens from their libertarian mode of party structures and democracy into something resembling a modern, centralised party with leaders - with himself being the current incumbent.
Throughout the nineties, Gormley was part of the modernising faction that demanded majority voting and a leader, not only because he wanted to be elected as leader (which he clearly did) but also because he viewed it as necessary to shed the whacky green image and become electable as a government party.
A blip on Gormley's political progress came after he captured the Dublin Lord Mayoralty (following an internal faction fight which Gormley only won against three other Green councillors with the help of Trevor Sargent) when he took possession of the Mansion House and the gas-guzzling mayoral car - a politically incorrect Volvo. Gormley had been making much mileage (political) out of his non-use of the car only for some snitch to inform Goldhawk that Mrs Penny Gormley had been using it to go to and from work. Outrage, recrimination and angry debate then ensued inside Dublin South-East Greens with allegations of treachery and leaking to The Phoenix followed by Penny's angry letter of resignation from the Green Party (see The Phoenix, 3/3/95).
However, Gormley and Sargent were at one in those days against the radical or fundie (fundamental) Greens who have always been suspicious of the modernisers, Gormley in particular. The duo eventually got their way in 2001 when members voted to elect a leader but, by then, Clever Trevor Sargent (who took a seat for the Greens in Dublin North in 1992, five years beforeGormley's 1997 Dáil breakthrough) was in pole position and he easily took the prize.
Gormley's leadership strategy in asserting his radical, Green credentials - he was by far the most effective spokesperson in the last number of EU treaty referendums - and then moving the party to a more conservative position, relied on unity with other senior Greens such as Sargent, Eamon Ryan and Dan Boyle. This meant that when the leadership question came up, Gormley was outflanked by Sargent and, later, Ryan. Gormley's tactics during the leadership debate - muttered in a most un-Green manner behind closed doors and to the ‘key' protagonists in the party - were that the party leader should not be someone who was certain to retain their Dáil seat (ie, Sargent) but someone who would have a hard battle to take one at the next election (ie, Gormley).
In the event, Gormley, wisely, decided to withdraw from the contest with Clever Trevor but a private, loose understanding arrived at was that while Sargent would be the leader, Gormley would be the environment Minister in any future coalition. This, at any rate, was the assumption Gormley worked on ever since, although he got a start when, shortly before he won the leadership in 2001, Sargent told the Irish Independent that he could take the job of environment minister in a future coalition.
ANTI WAR
A good example of Gormley's radical opportunism came when George Bush visited the North in 2003 and Gormley demanded that SF boycott a peace process meeting with the US President and Tony Blair as an anti-Iraq war gesture. Gormley's feigned innocence in face of the argument that such a gesture would have created a crisis in the peace process impressed few at the time and even less so now that the Greens, in government, have swallowed the FF line on the US Shannon stop-over without a murmur.
A look back at Green political posturing ever since the leadership contest shows that the party was willing to go into government, with all the political compromises that would have entailed, as far back as 2000, well before the second-last election. At the Greens conference that year, Boyle moved a motion urging that the party work out a pre-election coalition position but the unbridled hostility of the members - with Patricia McKenna stirring things up against the leadership - forced the leadership to withdraw the proposal. This meant, of course, that the leadership did not suffer an obvious rebuff (Gormley and Sargent had backed Boyle) but also that their room for future manoeuvre was not restricted by a vote that would have shackled them in future behind-the-scene moves.
Since then, of course, the Greens have overcome - or at least bludgeoned into the ground - the members' resistance to coalition with the devil and have lost their soul as a result in signing the Faustian pact with Bertie. The list of political pledges and positions dumped by the Greens to get into power is long and detailed but most of the biggest ones are well known: the Shannon stop over and the M3 Motorway through Tara are two, while the party is clearly preparing the ground to jettison its neutral, Euro-critical view on moves towards a federal Europe.
However, it is the decidedly less dramatic but quintessentially Green position on fluoridation of water that shows just how cavalier Gormley can be in the pursuit of power. Tasked with writing a report for the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children on fluoridation, Gormley presented his report to several meetings of the committee beginning last December. Gormley's well-researched report was scathing, arguing that worldwide research showed, among other things, that water fluoridation was damaging to babies in bottle-feed and recommending that water fluoridation cease immediately - for all age groups.
The report has never been published as Gormley could not get it through committee or past the objections of such as FF's Dr Jimmy Devins and further reports are pending before the committee comes down one way or the other. However, Gormley's report is fully in line with Green Party policy on water fluoridation and, as far back as 1997, Sargent described the practice as a "crazy experiment with our health. It cannot be lawful for a state to poison its own people."
Nevertheless, when the Greens drew up their general election manifesto, Gormley and the party's policy of demanding an immediate end to fluoridation had mysteriously disappeared, replaced with an anodyne commitment to "an independent study" into fluoridation to be followed by a halt to the practice if "excessive levels" are shown to be present in the water supply. Many members of the Oireachtas health committee were deeply sceptical of the Greens' fluoridation policy, regarding it as a good example of that party's whacky political outlook and a reason to be wary of it. Gormley picked up on this dangerous perception and so the fluoridation policy was dumped - before the election. The subsequent agreed programme for government, of course, includes neither the original Green position on fluoridation nor even the commitment to an independent study.
Another indication that Gormley and colleagues had planned to dump principled policy positions that go the heart of what the Greens are about is that, as far back as three and a half years ago, Gormley and Sargent tried to push the Greens into a more pro-EU position with various devices, including ‘educational' sessions for Green Party members led by enlightened Euro-federalists like Garret Fitzgerald and Professor Ben Tonra.
EU REFORM TREATY
The party has since decided to stay neutral on one of the burning policy issues of the last few years and one that helped to define the Green Party's political identity - the revamped attempt by Brussels and the Eurocrats to implement the revised EU Reform Treaty.
Gormley and Boyle, the negotiators with FF for the programme for government, did not even attempt to save the Lismullen henge site along the M3 motorway, and Shannon is simply not an issue for the Greens anymore. The perhaps simplistic impression purveyed by the Opposition parties and media is that the Greens have lost their soul and sold out most of their policies to scramble into government for vague aspirations on climate change and a few domestic environmental issues; that this will lead to an erosion of their voter base and that they will end up like the PDs - only in double quick time at the next election.
But surely Gormley, Ryan, Sargent, Boyle et al have thought things through in a more coherent way than this and will emerge as a party of achievement, politically and in terms of their own policy issues at the next election? Gormley and company apparently believe that the entire political landscape has changed and that the national question, left-right politics and so on are out-dated concepts that afford an opportunity for their party. The new population and electorate will move inexorably towards Green (and ‘responsible') politics over the next few years and the party will emerge unscathedand even stronger at the next election.
The public has been hearing for many decades that the national question is dead and that the working class is no more. And the proposed electoral revision already threatens to remove the electoral base of one of its six TDs, Ciaran Cuffe in Dun Laoghaire. And the party's prospects at the European and local elections in just 18 months time do not look good - the party had a disastrous dual election in 2004, losing its two European seats and suffering a fall in its local vote and there is no reason to believe that a demoralised membership will fare better next time.
Gormley needs to watch out especially for the discontent amongst the party's own ranks, as even a change in the electorate cannot compensate for a decline in membership - or a revolt. Support for McKenna in the leadership contest, Gormley argued, would mean a split in the party and while this was deliberate scaremongering, there is a grain of truth in this argument. More to the point, it did not prevent the members from giving McKenna three times the vote that opposed going into coalition, a simple message indicating that the members were already retreating from coalition after just a few weeks in government.
An even greater irony is that FF ministers believe that Green cabinet members Gormley and Ryan are enjoying a honeymoon that will shortly be followed by hard graft back in the house. Bertie and Biffo Cowen seem to believe that while the two Greens are having a great time announcing energy efficient home improvement schemes and architectural and archeological initiatives, that the political cheque they signed has yet to be honoured.
The first tranche of political payback due to be delivered comes with the forthcoming European referendum. Gormley's finest and most articulate moments came in debate with the Eurocrat smoothies whom he handled better than anybody else on the NO side in various referendums in the past. Gormley earned considerable respect and loyalty from some of the more serious, middle-tier Green activists as a result. One wonders how these people, many of whom grudgingly traipsed after Gormley into government, will feel when Gormley begins to sound more like Alan Dukes than the late Petra Kelly.
© Phoenix 2.11.07
www.buckplanning.ie
Last Saturday week, the Minister for the Environment officiated at the opening of an organic food market during National Organic Week - the sort of occasion that ministers enjoy as they bask in the aura of their office without any unpleasant barracking or criticism from opposition politicians. However, while all those present listened respectfully until the conclusion of his speech, a member of Tara Watch then asked Gormley if he had anything to say about the M 3 motorway, a most sensitive issue for the Greens. Gormley was incensed at this impertinence and barked at the questioner that this was neither the time nor the place for such an issue, adding, "I know who you are and I will talk to you another time."
It usually takes the infinitely more experienced Fianna Fáil politicians five years or more to lose their sense of proportion and become above themselves and their constituents - and those at the organic function were most definitely Gormley's ‘people' - but Gormley has undergone a serious transformation in recent months. Time was when Gormley would have been the heckler at some sleek, political fat cat in a merc. Indeed, shortly before his reelection in Dublin South-East last summer, Gormley bearded Michael McDowell in Ranelagh in that celebrated street brawl which, in retrospect, marked the end of the former PD leader and the beginning of the new Green leader's emergence as an establishment politician.
Gormley is now part of the club he has for long barracked so effectively and his tetchiness under fire is typical of politicians from small, radical parties who have made it into government. But there is a more fundamental political reason for Gormley's paranoia, namely, the wholesale abandonment of the party's political programme in order to get into government and the fear that this could presage political Armageddon in five years time.
Gormley has always tried to have it both ways, combining a radical image with an orthodox career ambition as well as methods that owe as much to FF as the Greens. Nearly 20 years ago, Gormley threatened a freesheet publication, Executive News, with legal action unless they retracted a quote that the then fledgling journalist, Maeve Sheehan, claimed he had uttered when she interviewed him. According to Sheehan, Gormley was most uncomplimentary about the then European Green icon Petra Kelly, saying she had not done enough to assist the Greens in the 1989 European election and also casting further unflattering aspersions on Kelly. But Gormley later denied uttering the quote, threatening the freesheet with legal action unless they withdrew it. Gormley also arrived at Goldhawk's door with his Dail assistant demanding that Goldhawk desist from repeating the full quote as published by Executive News and he followed up with correspondence threatening legal action.
MODERNISER
Gormley was one of the first strong Green personalities in Irish life but he was also one of the first to effect the transformation of the Greens from their libertarian mode of party structures and democracy into something resembling a modern, centralised party with leaders - with himself being the current incumbent.
Throughout the nineties, Gormley was part of the modernising faction that demanded majority voting and a leader, not only because he wanted to be elected as leader (which he clearly did) but also because he viewed it as necessary to shed the whacky green image and become electable as a government party.
A blip on Gormley's political progress came after he captured the Dublin Lord Mayoralty (following an internal faction fight which Gormley only won against three other Green councillors with the help of Trevor Sargent) when he took possession of the Mansion House and the gas-guzzling mayoral car - a politically incorrect Volvo. Gormley had been making much mileage (political) out of his non-use of the car only for some snitch to inform Goldhawk that Mrs Penny Gormley had been using it to go to and from work. Outrage, recrimination and angry debate then ensued inside Dublin South-East Greens with allegations of treachery and leaking to The Phoenix followed by Penny's angry letter of resignation from the Green Party (see The Phoenix, 3/3/95).
However, Gormley and Sargent were at one in those days against the radical or fundie (fundamental) Greens who have always been suspicious of the modernisers, Gormley in particular. The duo eventually got their way in 2001 when members voted to elect a leader but, by then, Clever Trevor Sargent (who took a seat for the Greens in Dublin North in 1992, five years beforeGormley's 1997 Dáil breakthrough) was in pole position and he easily took the prize.
Gormley's leadership strategy in asserting his radical, Green credentials - he was by far the most effective spokesperson in the last number of EU treaty referendums - and then moving the party to a more conservative position, relied on unity with other senior Greens such as Sargent, Eamon Ryan and Dan Boyle. This meant that when the leadership question came up, Gormley was outflanked by Sargent and, later, Ryan. Gormley's tactics during the leadership debate - muttered in a most un-Green manner behind closed doors and to the ‘key' protagonists in the party - were that the party leader should not be someone who was certain to retain their Dáil seat (ie, Sargent) but someone who would have a hard battle to take one at the next election (ie, Gormley).
In the event, Gormley, wisely, decided to withdraw from the contest with Clever Trevor but a private, loose understanding arrived at was that while Sargent would be the leader, Gormley would be the environment Minister in any future coalition. This, at any rate, was the assumption Gormley worked on ever since, although he got a start when, shortly before he won the leadership in 2001, Sargent told the Irish Independent that he could take the job of environment minister in a future coalition.
ANTI WAR
A good example of Gormley's radical opportunism came when George Bush visited the North in 2003 and Gormley demanded that SF boycott a peace process meeting with the US President and Tony Blair as an anti-Iraq war gesture. Gormley's feigned innocence in face of the argument that such a gesture would have created a crisis in the peace process impressed few at the time and even less so now that the Greens, in government, have swallowed the FF line on the US Shannon stop-over without a murmur.
A look back at Green political posturing ever since the leadership contest shows that the party was willing to go into government, with all the political compromises that would have entailed, as far back as 2000, well before the second-last election. At the Greens conference that year, Boyle moved a motion urging that the party work out a pre-election coalition position but the unbridled hostility of the members - with Patricia McKenna stirring things up against the leadership - forced the leadership to withdraw the proposal. This meant, of course, that the leadership did not suffer an obvious rebuff (Gormley and Sargent had backed Boyle) but also that their room for future manoeuvre was not restricted by a vote that would have shackled them in future behind-the-scene moves.
Since then, of course, the Greens have overcome - or at least bludgeoned into the ground - the members' resistance to coalition with the devil and have lost their soul as a result in signing the Faustian pact with Bertie. The list of political pledges and positions dumped by the Greens to get into power is long and detailed but most of the biggest ones are well known: the Shannon stop over and the M3 Motorway through Tara are two, while the party is clearly preparing the ground to jettison its neutral, Euro-critical view on moves towards a federal Europe.
However, it is the decidedly less dramatic but quintessentially Green position on fluoridation of water that shows just how cavalier Gormley can be in the pursuit of power. Tasked with writing a report for the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children on fluoridation, Gormley presented his report to several meetings of the committee beginning last December. Gormley's well-researched report was scathing, arguing that worldwide research showed, among other things, that water fluoridation was damaging to babies in bottle-feed and recommending that water fluoridation cease immediately - for all age groups.
The report has never been published as Gormley could not get it through committee or past the objections of such as FF's Dr Jimmy Devins and further reports are pending before the committee comes down one way or the other. However, Gormley's report is fully in line with Green Party policy on water fluoridation and, as far back as 1997, Sargent described the practice as a "crazy experiment with our health. It cannot be lawful for a state to poison its own people."
Nevertheless, when the Greens drew up their general election manifesto, Gormley and the party's policy of demanding an immediate end to fluoridation had mysteriously disappeared, replaced with an anodyne commitment to "an independent study" into fluoridation to be followed by a halt to the practice if "excessive levels" are shown to be present in the water supply. Many members of the Oireachtas health committee were deeply sceptical of the Greens' fluoridation policy, regarding it as a good example of that party's whacky political outlook and a reason to be wary of it. Gormley picked up on this dangerous perception and so the fluoridation policy was dumped - before the election. The subsequent agreed programme for government, of course, includes neither the original Green position on fluoridation nor even the commitment to an independent study.
Another indication that Gormley and colleagues had planned to dump principled policy positions that go the heart of what the Greens are about is that, as far back as three and a half years ago, Gormley and Sargent tried to push the Greens into a more pro-EU position with various devices, including ‘educational' sessions for Green Party members led by enlightened Euro-federalists like Garret Fitzgerald and Professor Ben Tonra.
EU REFORM TREATY
The party has since decided to stay neutral on one of the burning policy issues of the last few years and one that helped to define the Green Party's political identity - the revamped attempt by Brussels and the Eurocrats to implement the revised EU Reform Treaty.
Gormley and Boyle, the negotiators with FF for the programme for government, did not even attempt to save the Lismullen henge site along the M3 motorway, and Shannon is simply not an issue for the Greens anymore. The perhaps simplistic impression purveyed by the Opposition parties and media is that the Greens have lost their soul and sold out most of their policies to scramble into government for vague aspirations on climate change and a few domestic environmental issues; that this will lead to an erosion of their voter base and that they will end up like the PDs - only in double quick time at the next election.
But surely Gormley, Ryan, Sargent, Boyle et al have thought things through in a more coherent way than this and will emerge as a party of achievement, politically and in terms of their own policy issues at the next election? Gormley and company apparently believe that the entire political landscape has changed and that the national question, left-right politics and so on are out-dated concepts that afford an opportunity for their party. The new population and electorate will move inexorably towards Green (and ‘responsible') politics over the next few years and the party will emerge unscathedand even stronger at the next election.
The public has been hearing for many decades that the national question is dead and that the working class is no more. And the proposed electoral revision already threatens to remove the electoral base of one of its six TDs, Ciaran Cuffe in Dun Laoghaire. And the party's prospects at the European and local elections in just 18 months time do not look good - the party had a disastrous dual election in 2004, losing its two European seats and suffering a fall in its local vote and there is no reason to believe that a demoralised membership will fare better next time.
Gormley needs to watch out especially for the discontent amongst the party's own ranks, as even a change in the electorate cannot compensate for a decline in membership - or a revolt. Support for McKenna in the leadership contest, Gormley argued, would mean a split in the party and while this was deliberate scaremongering, there is a grain of truth in this argument. More to the point, it did not prevent the members from giving McKenna three times the vote that opposed going into coalition, a simple message indicating that the members were already retreating from coalition after just a few weeks in government.
An even greater irony is that FF ministers believe that Green cabinet members Gormley and Ryan are enjoying a honeymoon that will shortly be followed by hard graft back in the house. Bertie and Biffo Cowen seem to believe that while the two Greens are having a great time announcing energy efficient home improvement schemes and architectural and archeological initiatives, that the political cheque they signed has yet to be honoured.
The first tranche of political payback due to be delivered comes with the forthcoming European referendum. Gormley's finest and most articulate moments came in debate with the Eurocrat smoothies whom he handled better than anybody else on the NO side in various referendums in the past. Gormley earned considerable respect and loyalty from some of the more serious, middle-tier Green activists as a result. One wonders how these people, many of whom grudgingly traipsed after Gormley into government, will feel when Gormley begins to sound more like Alan Dukes than the late Petra Kelly.
© Phoenix 2.11.07
www.buckplanning.ie
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