Carbon Emissions

That's why I used the word "if". But there's only so long that our economy can withstand diesel at >€2 a litre.
I don't think that's be the thing that causes it either.
Our housing problem is one caused by success. Our world beating handling of the Covid Pandemic and the superb job the last two Governments did in dealing with Brexit and the creation of money by all major international central banks are the main reasons we aren't in recession now.
If/when we do it'll be down to the end of QE, the War in Ukraine and the utter hames the UK has made, and is continuing to make, of Brexit.
 
Ryan has an approval rating of ~20% and the views of those people shouting into the void mostly align with the 30%+ of people voting for SF. I don’t think these are nearly as minority views as we’d like to think.
I'm not condoning this by the way, I think Eamon Ryan is a good guy. However I think he has become the personification of the unpopularity associated with all the changes with regard to the "green agenda ",

He is blamed for the big hike in fuel prices, not his fault by the way but because he is intrinsically linked with carbon taxes he gets the blame for that also.

He is also the personification of the perceived anti rural bias in the current government, the recent 20% cut in public transport fares really only benefits urban dwellers as there is virtually no public transport in rural areas.

If you ask people in a survey "are you in favour of green energy etc" you will get a resounding positive response. But are you prepared to pay the substantial increase in costs to achieve this it will be the opposite , however no survey ever asks this question
 
Most people who drive the SUV down the road to drop the kids to school don't care about carbon emissions or climate change, or don't care enough to make any meaningful changes to their life and habits. Climate change is a problem for China / the US / other people etc.

I think Eamon Ryan and the Greens need to change their message to focus on what is better for Irish people and their quality of life.

The Greens should be talking about quality of life. Don't mention lower carbon emissions. They should be talking about the benefits of active travel:
  • healthier and more independent kids (and adults)
  • less traffic & nicer places to live
  • less noise
  • less air pollution
  • cheaper
And on insulated homes the benefits are similar.

These things matter to the average voter more than carbon emissions and energy resilience.
He is also the personification of the perceived anti rural bias in the current government, the recent 20% cut in public transport fares really only benefits urban dwellers as there is virtually no public transport in rural areas.
How long has he been in power for? The parties that supposedly do care about rural Ireland have governed this state for the last 100 years yet are not tarred with this brush. They are responsible for the mess in rural Ireland.
 
Data centres... are the elephant in the room. Look at their energy consumption. Look at the number of jobs associated with them.

Going to be a hard sell pushing costs and hardship onto ordinary people to generate incremental reductions if these aren't touched.
 
How long has he been in power for? The parties that supposedly do care about rural Ireland have governed this state for the last 100 years yet are not tarred with this brush. They are responsible for the mess in rural Ireland.
To what mess do you refer?
 
The lack of public transport in rural areas is not a "mess" by any definition - merely a reflection of low population density and ultimately a consequence of generations of emigration or if you prefer the failure of this country to undergo an Industrial Revolution centuries ago. On the whole, rural Ireland is doing pretty well but could be doing much better if government was doing better.
 
It is a mess of one off housing due to poor planning. This leads to car dependence (among a host of other issues) and the carbon emissions from same.
No it's not. Car dependence is always going to be a fact of life in any area of low population density. Not everyone shares your view on carbon emissions.
 
It is a mess of one off housing due to poor planning. This leads to car dependence (among a host of other issues) and the carbon emissions from same.
Allowing ribbon development is the biggest thing that's "killing" rural Ireland and that's down to the short sightedness of rural dweller.
 
Allowing ribbon development is the biggest thing that's "killing" rural Ireland and that's down to the short sightedness of rural dweller.
Ribbon development is arguably a bigger issue in towns and other urban areas than in rural spots. Look for example at the town of Enniscorthy where there are miles of ribbon development in pretty much every direction from the historic centre.
 
It is a mess of one off housing due to poor planning. This leads to car dependence (among a host of other issues) and the carbon emissions from same.
Yes I agree that one off housing and mcmansions that proliferate rural Ireland are the problem.

However they are there now the system right upto Central government allowed all this. We cannot magic it all away now or punish the people that live in those houses. The system now has to come up with an all encompassing solution , a 20% cut in fares in a seriously deficient public transport system even for urban Ireland is not that solution.
Even now 50% of all house construction is one off housing. The construction industry and government regulation of same is unable to do large scale urban development
 
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