07.07.09
Posted in Archaeology, Climate Change, European Union, Historical Importance of Tara, Internet Activism, Litigation, News, unesco at 10:55 am by Vincent
PRESS RELEASE – TARAWATCH – 7 July 2009
‘Complaint Over Hill of Tara and M3 Motorway Submitted to UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon’
TaraWatch has submitted a complaint to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, on the day of his visit to Dublin, concerning the Hill of Tara and the M3 motorway. It has been sent to him and various relevant UN agencies, including UNESCO, the Secretariat, the UN High Commission on Human Rights, the UN Global Compact, and the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
The complaint petitions the UN to intervene in the controversy and initiate a problem-solving initiative, while the European Court of Justice considers if Ireland is in breach of EU law, in the case currently being argued by the European Commission against Ireland, and until the Minister for the Environment John Gormley completes his nomination of the Hill of Tara to UNESCO.
Breaches of various UN laws, which Ireland has ratified, are cited in the complaint, including:
- Charter of the United Nations
- UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage
- UNESCO Constitution
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
- International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
- International Convention on the Rights of the Child
- Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity
- United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
- Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
- UN Global Compact
- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
The complaint has been given to the Labour Party and Sinn Fein, who will be attending meetings with the Secretary-General today, in the hope it will be hand-delivered to him. Arthur Morgan, TD, will be attending the lunch today for the General-Secretary, hosted by Taoiseach, Brian Cowen. Michael D. Higgins, TD, and Senator Dominick Hannigan will be attending the meeting of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs today, which the Secretary-General will attend.
TaraWatch spokesperson, Vincent Salafia, said:
“We have petitioned the Secretary-General to intervene and initiate a problem-solving initiative in order to prevent further destruction of the Tara landscape, as well as breaches of EU and UN law.
“Works at Tara should cease until the European Court of Justice decides the case currently being brought against Ireland by the European Commission.
“UNESCO should intervene now that the Minister for the Environment has begun the nomination of Tara to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
ENDS
Contact, Vincent Salafia 087-132-3365
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03.19.09
Posted in Archaeology, Climate Change, News, Tolls, Transport at 11:42 am by Vincent
The Dublin Transportation Office (DTO) has been holding a public consultation on developing a new Strategic Transport Plan for the greater Dublin area, which includes Meath and Tara. The ‘2030 Vision’ consultation closes at midnight on Sunday 22nd of March. Please take ten minutes and fill out the consultation form, and demand a solution to the Tara / M3 problem.
“2030 Vision is the name given to the Strategic Transport Plan being developed by the Dublin Transportation Office for the Greater Dublin Area. It will be at the heart of all transport planning in the region from 2010 until 2030. Everyone has an important role in helping to design it. We wish to consult you in the development of the new transport strategy.” – DTO
Please include the following points in your submission:
- Demand that the DTO turn the Hill of Tara / M3 motorway problem into an opportunity to improve both heritage and transport
- Note that many alternatives are avilaible, such as re-routing the M3 to serve the population of Trim, instead of wrecking the heritage at Tara, where there are no people.
- Point out that the consultation is fatally flawed, and doomed to failure due to Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey’s refusal to subject Transport 21 and the National Development Plan (NDP) to Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), as recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
- Note that options for Strategic Transport Plan have been straight-jacketed by the structures put in place under the NDP, and that a sustainable plan can only be properly achieved if Transport 21 is also reviewed, and put through a similar consultation process and full SEA .
- Note that Transport 21 and the NDP have never been environmentally proofed for climate change, and were drafted under much different economic assumptions, such as 6% growth and low fuel costs.
- Demand that all national spending on Transport 21 under the NDP is frozen, and SEA and cost-benefit analysis of the entire plan and every individual project is carried out to form a new national transport strategy, to fit with the Dublin strategy.
- Demand that the DTO participate in the public consultation currently being held by the Department of the Environment on the proposed UNESCO Hill of Tara World Heritage Site.
- Remind the DTO that UNESCO or the EU may still demand that the M3 is re-routed, after it is completed, and it is better to try and solve the problem now, rather than later, in order to save money.
- Note that the M3 route already goes 3.5 m off course to the east, between Navan and Dunshaughlin. It would serve Trim and save Tara if it went 3.5 km off course to the west. It would also save money because the M3 would not need to cross the N3 in two places, and there would be no need for interchanges.
- Note that Tara is on the World Monuments Fund List of 100 Most Endangered Sites, and that Smithsonian Magazine listed Tara as one of ten must-see sites before they disappear.
- Note that the tolling contract for the M3 is 45 years, which will determine transport policy until 2055 unless action is taken now.
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12.03.07
Posted in Climate Change, News, Protests at 10:24 am by Vincent
Evening Echo: Bono on our site, say Tara campaigners
Irish Voice (USA): Gore Green in Dublin
RTE News: Gore challenges Ireland during Dublin speech (Video)
Press Association: Campaigners seek star backing
Irish Times: Gore, Bono called to support Tara
Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘Right on daddy…Bono’s girls are chip off the old block…but taller’
Bono on our side, say Tara campaigners
Irish Echo: 01/12/2007 – 12:59:08 PM
Bono stated that the M3 motorway at Tara is “a bad idea” when he arrived at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin today, according to campaigners.
The U2 frontman is attending a conference where Al Gore is to give a talk entitled: ‘Thinking Green: Economic Strategy for the 21st Century’.
Tara campaigners, who are rallying outside the conference to oppose the National Development Plan 2006-2013, aim to give a letter to Gore’s aides, asking him to examine the M3 issue.
“Bono was happy to take a flyer, and clearly stated his opposition to the M3 project,” claimed Vincent Salafia of Tarawatch.
“We are hopeful that Bono tackle the M3 issue here in Ireland, since the economic policies driving its construction are having a negative impact on the third world.
“It’s a ‘Beautiful Day’ for the Tara campaign.”
Government ministers Eamon Ryan, Noel Dempsey and former Minister for the Environment Dick Roche, who rubber stamped the controversial route, were heckled as they arrived at the talks.
Shots with Bono deemed ‘too showbizzy’ for Gore
Sunday Independent
2 December 2007
by Liam Collins
HE’s been photographed with everyone from the Pope to George Bush, but when Bono met Al Gore in Dublin yesterday the great climate change campaigner said “no photographs” – at least not for publication.
Although the pair were pictured together in private in the Royal College of Surgeons, before a major conference on business and the evnironment, Mr Gore’s ‘people’ ordered that no photographs of them should be released of them together.
“It’s too showbizzy,” Mr Gore’s ‘people’ are reported to have told organisers. Instead they wanted ‘corporate’ images released which would reflect the unsuccessful presidential candidate’s new position as climate change guru.
What they seemed to forget was the inconvenient truth that the former US vice-president – who revived his career by hitching his star to climate change – was photographed in London with rock star Bon Jovi only last week.
As for Bono – he’s probably the most photographed man on the planet with his combination of rock stardom and save the world ideology
Bono had jetted into Dublin from the south of France, where U2 are “beginning the process” of recording a new album. But after the Dublin event ‘Al’s people’ were not for turning. They just didn’t think a photograph of AL and Bono was “appropriate” given the seriousness of the Dublin conference.
Instead, they put out a press release shot of Mr Gore with the chairman of Merrion Cipatal John Conroy, who organised the conference, which they believed suited the ‘corporate’ image of the Dublin event – cutting the U2 frontman from the lineup.
Bono had earlier joined Mr Gore and the Minister for Energy, Eamon Ryan, for a 45-minute ‘briefing; on the world environment before the conference began.
Later delegates, mostly drawn from the Dublin financial world, were told by Mr Gore that Ireland’s unprecedented economic success over the last ten years brought with it certain responsibilities.
“Ireland, with its successful business model and unique political positioning had a key role to play among developed nations in driving the environmental agenda,” said Mr Gore – in his keynote address. The conference was entitled “Thinking Green: Economic Strategy for the 21st Century.”
Gore, now a global environmental campaigner, said he was greatly encouraged by the importance of being attached to environmental issues by leading businessmen. Another speaker at the conference, Willie Walsh, chief executive of British Airways, said climate change was “the most serious long term challenge the airline industry had ever faced.”
He continued: “It is unfair that airlines have been portrayed regularly as environmental pariahs and that it is suggested that choosing to fly is not only bad for the planet, but selfish and sinful as well.”
Government Ministers Eamon Ryan, Noel Dempsey and the former Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche, who authorised the controvertial M3 motorway at Tara route, were heckled by protesters as they arrived at the conference in Kildate Street.
According to protesters, Bono agreed with them that the new motorway near the historic Hill of Tara was a “bad idea”.
‘Right on daddy…Bono’s girls are chip off the old block…but taller’
by Joanne Hegarty, Chief Showbusiness Writer
The Irish Mail on Sunday 2/12/07
When your rock-star dad is one of the most famous people on the planet, he must be one tough act to follow. But his two daughters seemed to be taking it all in their stride yesterday when they turned up with him for an international conference in Dublin on global climate change.
Dressed casually in dark skinny jeans and woolly scarves, Jordan(18) and Memphis Eve(15) trailed behind their campaigning father as he arrived on foot at the Royal College of Surgeons just after 11am. Giggling and texting on their mobile phones, Bono’s rock-chick looking daughters almost went unnoticed by the large crowd of campaigners and press that gathered.
Rarely pictured at a public event, the girls have inherited their mother’s good looks and their father’s grungy dress code. Unlike their diminutive dad, however, the girls don’t seem to have any height hang-ups and decided to keep their feet firmly on the ground in flat shoes. Bono apparently toured Harvard University this summer in the hopes that his eldest, Jordan, who shares his May 10 birthday, would become a student there one day.
Bono has never made a secret of his love for the American lifestyle and owns a €4m Manhattan apartment which, presumably, Jordan will use as digs. That’s if she makes the grade of course.Memphis Eve attends a private southside secondary school. Bono has always prided himself on being a good father and says he has a close relationship with his daughters and tries to drive them to school as often as he can. When he is not bending the ear of world leaders that is.
Jordan and Memphis Eve joined protesters opposed to the contentious M3 motorway being routed near the Hill of Tara and listened as their dad and former US president Al Gore were called on to back the demonstrations.
TaraWatch handed a letter to Al Gore before he spoke at talks in central Dublin on the impact of global climate change. Laura Grealish of TaraWatch said, ‘We hope Mr Gore gets a chance to see what is really going on here in Ireland’.
Government Ministers Eamon Ryan, Noel Dempsey and former environment minister Dick Roche, who rubber-stamped the controversial route, were heckled as they arrived at the talks.
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05.01.07
Posted in Climate Change, News, Spiritual Importance of Tara at 12:45 am by Vincent
Statue of Saint Patrick faces the Tara/Skryne valley, where the M3 is due to be built
Vatican is called in to Save Hill of Tara
Evening Herald
1 May 2007
by Michael Lavery
IN the latest twist in the row over the Hill of Tara/M3 motorway route the Vatican has now being urged to intervene to save the Meath site.
Environmental campaigner Vincent Salafia believes the decision on the Hill of Tara is “a deeply moral one, even leaving law and politics aside”, and is urging Pope Beledict’s Vatican to step in.
TaraWatch sent the appeal following a weekend Vatican seminar on climate change and development, which, it says, recognised climate change as an important Christian moral issue.
Now it has called on Cardinal Martino, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, to examine the Hill of Tara issue.
“TaraWatch has appealed to the Vatican to examine the Hill of Tara and the M3 motorway issue as an extreme example of non sustainable development due to economic, environmental and social factors, the group said.
The appeal to the Cardinal also referred to the site’s “unique religious and spiritual importance”.
Celebrate
It pointed out that Meath County Council had invited Pope John Paul II to celebrate Easter Mass on the Hill of Tara the year before he died.
Mr Salafia said: “It is clear that governments, business and citizens all have a shared and active responsibility for shaping our environment, and steering development in a positive direction.
“To do this, we will have to make hard decisions now, rather than later,” he said.
Mr Salafia, in his letter to Cardinal Martino, said that Ireland has suffered from “an unfettered development frenzy that is completely developer-led and market driven, which has led not only to unprecedented urban sprawl but damage to landscapes nationwide”.
Ireland’s carbon emissions were some of the worst in the EU and Ireland would not meet its Kyoto targets, he said. “Having the moral weight of the Church behind efforts to reduce carbon emissions and create sustainable communities will have a massive effect,” he added.
The motorway will damage an area of natural scenic beauty and would impact over 30 archaeological sites in the Tara area, the Cardinal was told.
PRESS RELEASE – TARAWATCH
‘Appeal Sent to Vatican After Seminar on Climate Change and Development’
30 August 2007
TaraWatch welcomes the results of the weekend Vatican Seminar on Climate Change and Development, which has recognised climate change as an important Christian moral issue.
An appeal, for an examination of the Hill of Tara, currently threatened by the M3 motorway, was sent on Sunday to H.E. Renato Raffaele Cardinal Martino, President, Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace who held the International seminar from 26-27 April 2007. He was informed of the non-sustainability of the M3, the Christian and pagan importance of Tara and that a large henge had recently been discovered in the pathway of the M3, which authorities would try and demolish very soon.
Attended by environment ministers from around the world, the seminar resulted in a strong statement from the Vatican, recognising the Christian and moral imperative of reversing global warming due to carbon and other emissions.
TaraWatch has appealed to the Vatican to examine the Hill of Tara and the M3 motorway issue as an extreme example of non-sustainable development, due to economic, environmental and social factors. They also asked that the unique religious and spiritual importance of the site be taken into consideration, pointing out that Meath County Council had invited Pope John Paul to celebrate Easter Mass on the Hill of Tara just before his untimely passing.
Vincent Salafia stated:
“It is clear that Governments, business and citizens all have a shared and active responsibility for shaping our environment, and steering development in a positive direction. To do this we will have to make some hard decisions now, rather than later. The decision about Tara is a moral deeply moral one, even leaving law and politics aside.
“While it is critical to refine the theories of sustainable development and environmental economics in terms of moral obligations, it is obvious that specific projects must be examined in detail, as case studies in non-sustainable development, and held up as examples of what not to do.”
He also quoted from an 1897 lecture by the Most Rev. John Healy to seminary students in Maynooth College:
“In the highest sense of the words, you are the heirs, and you ought to be, as it were, the official custodians, of the historic monuments of the Gael.
“It would be strange, indeed…that an Irish priest should be either ignorant of their history, or show himself indifferent to their defacement or destruction.
“No man can do more than a priest to aid in their preservation, and every sentiment of genuine patriotism, of national honour, and even of professional zeal, should move him to aid in the noble work of illustrating the history and guarding the integrity of these ancient monuments, which are at once eloquent witnesses of our vanished glories in the past, and hopeful emblems of a higher national life in the not distant future.
“Now, my young friends, of all the historic sites in Ireland, there is no other that can at all approach the Hill of Tara, either in antiquity, in historic interest, or in the variety and suggestive significance of its ancient monuments.”
Taipei Times: Vatican adds its voice to warnings on climate changeIndian Times: Respect creation, Pope tells historic Vatican climate meet
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02.13.07
Posted in Archaeology, Climate Change, Historical Importance of Tara, News, Spiritual Importance of Tara, Transport at 11:41 am by Vincent
Photo: NUI Galway
Hill of Tara Set for Danger List -New plan to save ancient site from M3 Irish Daily Star – Tue Feb 13 2007
- Tue Feb 13 2007By Cormac Bourke
THE Ancient Hill of Tara has been nominated for inclusion on a list of the world’s 100 most endangered sites.
The World Monuments Watch has helped save 420 irreplaceable sites in 80 countries, including the ancient Buddhist temple of Preah Khan at Angkor, Cambodia, built in 1191.
Environmentalists hope inclusion on the 2008 list will boost their campaign to reroute the M3 away from the ancient County Meath fort, home of the ancient kings.
Work
They claim the site is being threatened by construction of the M3 motorway, ancillary development and neglect.
Vincent Salafia of TaraWatch said the nomination takes the campaign to halt work on the M3 to a new level internationally.
“We are extremely hopeful the Government will think twice before signing the 30-year construction and tolling contract,” he said. “The sustainable alternatives must be reviewed in light of the new data and EU rules on transport carbon emissions and climate change.”
International expert Dr Ron Hicks, of the Department of Anthropology, Ball State University, Indiana endorsed the nomination. A decision on whether to include the Hill of Tara on the list will be made in the summer.
Neglect
A decision on whether to include the Hill of Tara on the endangered sites list will be made in the summer.
Announced every two years the list is compiled to bring international attention to cultural heritage sites around the world threatened by neglect, vandalism, conflict or natural disaster.
The 2006 list included a famine era barn in Co Kildare and Irish explorer Ernest Shackelton’s Expedition Hut on Ross Island, Antartica.
The Ellis Island baggage and Dormitory Building in New York, built to accomodate immigrants trying to get into America in the early 1900s – also made the list.
HILL OF TARA Seat of kings or land of myths? (inset)
- Tara was the ancient seat of power in Ireland from where 142 kings reigned – but not to many, the history of the hill blurs the lines between history and reality. Some believe it was a dwelling place for the ancient gods, others claimed it was an entrance to the ‘Otherworld’.
- A century ago a group of Israelites believed the Ark of the Covenant was buried on the hill. Other dreamers claimed that Tara was the ancient capital of the Lost Kingdom of Atlantis – and Atlantis was Ireland.
- One legend names the Hill of Tara was the capital of the Tuatha de Danann the pre-Celtic dwellers of Ireland. Under the Celts Tara became the place from where the Kings of Ireland ruled with godly status.
- At the summit stood the Stone of Destiny and it was here that the High Kings of Ireland were crowned. Legend says that the stone had to roar three times if the chosen one was a true king.
DailyIndia: Hill of Tara nominated for endangered list
Washington Times: Hill of Tara nominated for endangered list
IRELAND’S SHAME: A SUPERHIGHWAY ACROSS THE HILL OF TARA
By T.S. Kerrigan
American Reporter Correspondent
Los Angeles, California
LOS ANGELES — Just when you thought the Celtic Tiger economy had done it worst, there’s news that the Irish Government – in the name of progress, of course – is implementing a plan to build the M3 freeway through the Hill of Tara, the ancient seat of the high kings of Ireland.
This would seem to be the worst news to befall that lovely site since medieval times, when Irish ecclesiastics, locked in a struggle with the lay authority of the times, put a curse on the place and destroyed all secular power in the land of saints and sages until the coming of Brian Boru.
‘What’s next, a shopping center connecting the Lakes of Killarney? A strip mall in Dingle? Unprincipled people seem to be in charge of Ireland’s cultural future… .’
Will romantic Ireland be “dead and gone,” as poet W.B. Yeats contended, when that location is straddled with a four-lane toll road and a 50-acre interchange? Will this obvious playing to the whims of the Irish motorist result in yet another desecration of the values of the past?
Work has, unfortunately, already begun despite an outcry which has spread beyond the borders of the country. William Harding, Professor of Archeology at Edinburgh University, has claimed that “it is an act of cultural vandalism as flagrant as ripping a knife through a Rembrandt painting.” Government owned forests in Rath Lugh are being systematically decimated as part of the project.
Poorly supervised digging at nearby Baronstown has produced bones in various and random parts of that area, with no attempt to mark or number these finds. At Roestown, a complex of beehive souterrains (Bronze Age condominiums) has been removed by workers, promptinmg its nomination by the respected World Monuments Fund to the lost of 100 Most Endangered Sites.
One of these ancient dwelling spaces in Roestown has been removed to build a superhighway across the revered Hill of Tara, and this one is to be moved.
Photo: Tara Watch
Destruction is also taking place at Collierstown, even before the Public-Private Partnership has entered into a contract to build the M3 Highway. The bureaucrats of the nation seem to be in a great hurry to complete the planned highway before public opposition grows too strong.
The insensitivity of the government to the beauties of the west of Ireland has been apparent before in places like Bantry Bay and Bellanboy, but this surely is its most momentous outrage in recent years. What’s next, a shopping center connecting the Lakes of Killarney? A strip mall in Dingle? The possibilities are only limited by the imaginations of the unprincipled people who seem to be in charge of the country’s cultural future.
These Collierstown sites may have held Ireland’s earliest Christians, dating to 400 A.D.
Photo:Tara Watch
Those who are not indifferent to the destruction of Irish culture are being advised to write to the Taioseach, Bertie Ahern, to Dick Roche, the Minister for the Environment, and Sean Haughey, Chairman of the Environmental Committee of the Irish Dail.
Tourism being one of Ireland’s major industries, those who oppose the project want to enlist the voices of people conscious of their Irish heritage in places like the United States and Australia.
It has also been recommended for dissenters to this project write to the major Irish newspapers. Further information is available through the Global Arts Collective and a useful blog, Tara Watch. A quick response is needed if these geographical treasures of Ireland are to be preserved.
You can reach AR Correspondent T.S. Kerrigan at scottroado0@earthlink.net
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12.27.06
Posted in Climate Change, News, Transport at 1:08 pm by Vincent
Cartoon by Martyn Turner, The Irish Times, December 15th 2006
IGNORING ETHICS OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Irish Times – Letter to the Editor
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Madam, – Martyn Turner’s cartoon in your edition of December 15th was the most effective rebuttal to Donal Buckley’s article “Buying carbon credits cost-effective and necessary” (Opinion, December 14th).
It showed Environment Minister Dick Roche sweeping a pile of polluted matter under a carpet labelled “Carbon credits”. The caption commented: “Carbon credits – it’s like getting rid of illegal dumps in Wicklow by moving them to Kildare.”
The most destructive aspect of the carbon trading ruse is that it allows people in rich countries to think that we can carry on polluting as long as we pay poor people to clean up our mess.
The moral dimension of this issue is largely ignored. The Catholic bishops were alarmed recently at the suggestion that the legal age of consent for sex be reduced to 16. They felt young people needed to be protected from the prevalent trivialisation of sexuality.
Contrast this with the announcement during the Budget debate that Brian Cowen had set aside €270 million to buy carbon credits. At Kyoto in 1997, Ireland was allowed to increase its carbon emission by 13 per cent. Transport and building policies pursued by the Government since then have resulted in a 23 per cent increase in our greenhouse gas emissions. Brian Cowen’s action means that, rather than reducing our carbon footprint, we plan to buy our way out of our obligations.
In contrast to the discussion on sexual morality, I have not heard a single religious leader question the morality of the Minister’s decision even though scientists tell us that climate change could have horrendous consequences for the lives of tens of millions of people, especially the poor and future generations.
Climate change is the most serious moral issue facing humankind in the 21st century. For the past 20 years scientists involved with the International Panel on Climate Change have been warning us that the increase in greenhouse gas levels is changing the global climate significantly. The review by Sir Nicholas Stern, former chief economist to the World Bank, stated that if we take serious action now it would cost only about 1 per cent of global GDP. If we wait 10 or 15 years it could cost between 5 per cent and 20 per cent.
If I persisted in pouring a substance into another person’s house which made it impossible for them to live there I am sure that reasonable people would come to three conclusions very quickly. First, that what I was doing was morally wrong. (My excuse that it was necessary for my economic growth would be brushed aside.) Second, that I should stop immediately. And, third, that I should pay compensation for the wrong I had done.
The current threat from climate change is so serious that every politician seeking a vote in the forthcoming general election should be asked to spell out the policies of her or his party on this issue.
On moral grounds, people should vote for the individuals and parties with the most effective policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. – Yours, etc,
Fr SEÁN McDONAGH, St Columban’s, Dalgan Park, Navan, Co Meath
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11.26.06
Posted in Climate Change, News, Tolls, Transport at 4:24 pm by Vincent
‘Climate Change Challenge Survey Results Reveal Political Party Positions on Transport Policy and Spending’
Results of a survey of political party’s views on climate change were received on Friday 24th November, revealing divergent views of transport related issues. A 10 question, Climate Change Challenge, survey was sent on Monday 20th November to all political parties, Oireachtas members, as well as members of Meath County Council and the National Roads Authority. The results were to be published and discussed at a conference on Saturday, 25th November. However, that conference had to be postponed until the new year, due to a scheduling conflict at the venue.
The responses revealed unanimous agreement that climate change is a very important issue but highlighted crucial differences between the political parties in their approach to meeting the climate change challenge, particularly in the area of transport spending.
Questions included issues of green taxes on motorists, new legislation, toll roads and whether there should be a new cost-benefit analysis of Transport 21 and the upcoming 2007 National Development Plan in light of the new data on the effects of climate change on the economy.
Scheduled to speak at the conference were Dr. Liam Leonard of the Department of Sociology and Politics, NUI Galway and Pat Finnegan of GRIAN, the Greenhouse Ireland Action Network. Then there was to be a panel discussion, featuring Cllr. Eugene Regan (FG), Sean Crowe, TD (SF), Cllr. Dermot Lacey (Lab), Ciaran Cuffe, TD (GP), and Senate candidate Martin Hogan (Ind).
Answers to the survey were received from Fiona O’Malley, TD (PD); Eamon Gilmore, TD, (Lab); Cllr. Eugene Regan (FG); Ciaran Cuffe, TD; and Dr. Liam Leonard. They are provided after each question below. Sinn Fein would not doubt have given their views at the conference and Fianna Fail did not send a response, nor send a delegate to the conference. It is hoped that they will respond to a more comprehensive survey that will now be sent to all parties in advance of the rescheduled conference.
The Climate Change Challenge was initiated by NGOs campaigning on transport and environment issues in County Meath, and that county will be used as a case study for analysing government policy and spending on transport. However, it is hoped that it will create a forum for all political parties, NGOs and the public to join in ongoing debate on how to tackle the climate change challenge in Ireland.
Joanne Corbett, one of the organisers, said:
“Climate change is the most important issue currently facing Ireland, and unlike most other countries, we have not yet begun our national conversation on how to address it.
“This is about real and immediate choices being made now, particularly in Government spending on transport, in response to a clear and present threat to our way of life, both in Ireland and around the world.
“We are very pleased that so many of the political parties, as well as groups like GRIAN and Friends of the Earth, agreed to respond to our survey and participate in the conference. And we do hope that we will have all of the parties participating soon.
ENDS
Contact:
Joanne Corbett: 087-233-9606 / 087-132-3365
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11.20.06
Posted in Climate Change, News, Protests, Transport at 10:35 am by Vincent
Tara Demonstration 22 Clyde Rd, Ballsbridge, 5.30pm
20 November 2006 Dear Sir/Madam,You are invited participate in the Climate Change Challenge. This is a cross-party and inter-NGO initiative being taken in the wake of the recent EU and UK findings on the economics and climate change, the recent UN conference on climate change, and the release of the Irish Government Estimates in November 2006. It consists of three elements:
[1.] A conference focusing on climate change, transport and environment which will take place in Dublin on Saturday, 25th of November at 12.00pm. It will feature academic presentations, as well as debate from members of political parties. The conference will be held at the Royal Society of Antiquaries, 63 Merrion Square, Dublin 2. Admission is free and open to the public.
[2.] A survey, consisting of 10 yes or no questions, is being sent to all political parties, Oireachtas members and Meath County Councillors, on Monday 20th November. The survey questions involve a re-evaluation of Irish Government spending on capital infrastructure projects, which are part of Transport 21 and the National Development Plan 2006. Results of the survey will be released and discussed at the conference on the 25th.
[3.] Organisers of the Climate Change Challenge will attend the talk being given by Fred Barry, CEO of the National Roads Authority, entitled “Delivering the National Roads Network – Value for Money?” at Engineers Ireland, 22 Clyde Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin on Tuesday, 21st November 2006, 18.30. Survey questions will be put to Fred Barry after his presentation.
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