Greens publish blueprint to help Ireland to Keep Going Green

The Green Party published its local election manifesto today (May 9) as the party steps up its campaign to win seats in every county in Ireland for the first time.

On the fifth anniversary of Ireland’s historic decision to recognise that we are in the middle of a climate emergency, the Green Party laid out a detailed blueprint for new measures at local level to improve our towns and villages and help restore nature in rural and urban areas. As new challenges emerge, the party’s basic message is that Ireland needs to Keep Going Green.

The launch was attended by Ministers Eamon Ryan, Catherine Martin and Roderic O’Gorman. The Green Party is running 125 candidates across the country’s 31 local authorities.

The Green Party has played a key role in ensuring every council has a strong and legally binding Climate Action Plan. Green councillors will now make sure these plans are implemented.  The party wants all local authorities to publish annual audits of their carbon footprint and report on progress towards shrinking it.

Pledges in the 57-page local election manifesto include;

• Fewer vacant and derelict properties by deploying more compulsory purchase orders
• More water inspectors with at least one per local authority
• Ending raw sewage discharges in coastal areas
• Planting of 1 million trees over the next five years and more pocket parks
• Reducing speed limits to 30km/h zones in towns
• Annual carfree days in some towns and villages to reclaim streets for local festivals
• More greenways, cycling network and walking trails
• Greater diversity and gender balance in local government
• Ensuring all local authority meetings are livestreamed and votes are recorded and easily available
• New local assemblies where people can suggest policy ideas for local problems for their council to trial and make permanent if successful
• Lowering the voting age to 16
• Giving all towns and cities above 30,000 people the option of a directly elected mayor

Minister Eamon Ryan, Leader of the Green Party, said;

“The Green Party stands for warm homes, safe streets and clean communities. We will restore nature everywhere, ensuring that our farmers, who are often at the forefront of this, are adequately paid. We will create parks, community gardens and nature trails. We will clean up our rivers, lakes and the sea. We will make sure people can move freely on our streets. We will expand pavements and cycle lanes, create new bus routes and slow traffic to make our roads safer.”

Minister Catherine Martin, Deputy Leader of the Green Party, said;

“This manifesto is a plan to help empower local communities in Ireland. The Dáil may decide our laws and budgets but it is local councils that put many of them into effect. It will be our communities that lead the transition to a sustainable, fairer, healthier way of life. This decade is our opportunity to transform our society to benefit everyone. We cannot afford to waste it.”

Minister Roderic O’Gorman, Director of the Local Elections, said;

“We have a dedicated plan to bring our streets and town centres to life. We will fight the vacancy and dereliction that blights so many towns. Safe, clean villages will thrive and be the places where people want to live. We support giving more power to local communities, so people have control over their own lives through local citizen assemblies, markets and community policing.”

The entire manifesto can be read here.