A chairde glas,
You may recall last year when addressing our annual convention in Dublin I reminded members that there were then exactly 11 weeks to go to local government election day. We had 11 weeks to safeguard our Party’s immediate future, re-establish ourselves at local government level and stay on course for an effective return to the Dáil. As a result of that that Local Election, 12, yes a dozen green county councillors were elected.
We are back at local government level. Hardworking councillors are ensuring that Green voices are again being heard in our Council Chambers. Since this is our first formal gathering since their success, I, on behalf of the Party would like to congratulate each and every one of those victorious councillors. You have done us proud. Your hard work and commitment paid off.
It would be remiss of me whilst here in Kilkenny not to especially congratulate Malcolm Noonan on his re-election and wish him the best of luck in the upcoming Bye Election.
It is also important to recognise and commend the hard work and dedicated efforts of so many other excellent candidates many of whom fell short of being elected last May. They have merely had their success postponed on this occasion.
Members, our party’s future remains in our hands. The next huge challenge, we face is less than 11 months away and to meet it effectively we must continue to take further steps in our political recovery, because our long term future as a political force whilst much more hopeful now is far from guaranteed.
Another Dáil term with further inaction on a whole range of green issues could have disastrous consequences for generations to come. But the challenge we face is surmountable, and our 12 County Councillors provide an essential bedrock in our party’s continued recovery. But they cannot do it on their own.
Women must play a central role in this recovery – and ladies, if you are pondering stepping forward, consider for one moment the worrying statistic that in the General Election of 2011 just 86 of 566 candidates were women .25 of 166 of those elected were women. This is the best representation women have ever had in Dáil Eireann. It is an increase of just 5% in 35 years. Since the foundation of the State, just 91 women have been elected in the Republic of Ireland; Women represent 52% of our country’s population but our Dáil has never been less than 85% male.
Ladies we need to change those statistics –we must change those statistics. Stand for election not because of a mandatory 30% female quota for political parties but because it is the right thing to do.
And I am convinced that in this gathering today there are many campaign managers, canvassers, candidates, new faces, new blood, of all ages, rural and urban who have yet to step forward. Let me be very clear about this, we need you now more than ever, you, your friends, your family, we need you on the front line, we need your support and your input ..so take that step today because the Party simply cannot countenance a repeat of General Election 2011 where as you well know we lost not just all our TDs, but all of our state funding. Ironically though, not having state funding and facing momentous challenges has brought out the resilient and sustainable best in us.
As we face into this election, respect for the body politic is at an all-time low. Self-inflicted damage has been done to the body politic by the body politic. In the last General Election a democratic revolution built on faith and trust was promised by those now in Government. Despite years of damage done to the political system by self-serving politicians, planning corruption, cronyism, false promises, and jobs for the boys- the electorate was led to believe that they were voting in 2011 for something new.
They took the then leader of the Labour Party at his pre-election word when he said ‘it’s Labours way or Frankfurt’s way’.
They also took Leo Varadakar at his pre-election word when he said not one more red cent to the banks.
They believed Enda Kenny when he said he would radically reform how this country does politics, begin again, root out the causes of the malaise and all that was wrong, all that caused respect to be lost. And the Government now wonders why lack of respect for politics and public anger and disillusionment are at an all-time high?
Perhaps FG were out of office for so long they had one preoccupation – catching up with their near identical cousins in FF, by packing state boards with their cronies, the Mc Nulty affair, failing to protect whistle blowers, no voting franchise extended to 16yr olds, still no Seanad reform and now in their 5th and final year a sustainable and fair solution to the mortgage arrears crisis is further away than ever before with over 110000 mortgages in arrears.The number of homeless families in Dublin alone is up 40% since June.
Where are the Governments solutions for these vulnerable people who are innocent victims of a crash caused by consecutive governments which allowed the economy to spiral out of control?
And delegates we should remind the electorate that while our country’s economy was allowed spiral out of control during those Celtic Tiger years, the Green Party always had a different viewpoint, an open political philosophy, a uniquely non-populist viewpoint. The Green party always abhorred the politics of boom followed by an inevitable bust.
It can be irritating at times when political commentators are insistent on tarnishing all political parties with the same brush, when they accuse all parties of fuelling that property bubble or saying that the political parties serving in opposition during the Celtic Tiger years were just as bad as what we were served up. They say that we were all in it together – with all parties queuing up to outbid each other- be them in opposition or in government.
But we know that the Green Party stood alone during those years of developer fuelled casino economics. Don’t expect the commentariat to change their narrative, their perspective, their analysis of very recent political history. It is up to us to communicate to the electorate our own proud track record. We always despised that style of populist politics. We were the lone political voice unafraid to speak up, to warn of the dangers of the unsustainable property boom at that time.
And let’s not forget the uncrowned leader of the party that’s not a party, a non-party or perhaps it’s an alliance of a type of party of Independents, meeting behind closed doors in Tullamore today. He could give a masterclass on flip flop populism. He who is always happy to pontificate, can now condemn, advise and see exactly what went wrong.
That political prophet, a former Fine Gael election candidate, was a cheerleader for the insane lending which bankrupted our State. But this man, the man who would save our country, deliver something new is suffering from political amnesia because he is the same man who believed and who wrote in those happy never ending Celtic Tiger days that David Drumm should be young businessman of the year in 2007 and that Seanie Fitz should be Governor of the Central Bank. Is that the track record, is that the voice that this country needs at the next Cabinet table?
Members the next General Election is a maximum of 11 months away. We have to do everything in our power to restore green representation to Dail Eireann because that real green voice has been missing from our national parliament.
We have a Government that instead of opting for a site valuation tax chose an unfair exchequer grabbing property tax. Rather than tackle land hoarders through a site valuation tax they chose to put the burden of payment onto every citizen.
Let us remember that the level of home retrofits has fallen by 79% since 2011 – and with that the opportunity to tackle our dependency on fossil fuels whilst creating thousands of jobs and protecting our most vulnerable citizens from energy poverty has been greatly diminished.
This Government copper fastened the decision to build the incinerator at Poolbeg that will have a capacity to burn 600,000 tonnes of waste a year – we will end up burning material which we could recycle, which we could reuse .We will be forced to bring in waste from all around the country with the likelihood that we will have to import rubbish to burn, to fill our atmosphere with pollutants which will fall upon our lands and our seas.
And as for the Water Tax – a water tax that ignores conservation with zero incentive to reduce consumption - a golden opportunity has been lost.
And another issue of huge concern is The Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015 which has no ambition- there are no long term targets and it pushes responsibility out to the next government and from there no doubt to the next generation.
Yes the government parties’ fun and tricks and temporary courtship at the last general election of all things green was nothing more than just that.
And it’s not just on the immense environmental challenges that this government is letting down future generations. Two successive Labour Ministers for Education have succeeded in placing in jeopardy a hugely important initiative like the much-needed reform of the Junior Certificate. The current Junior Certificate is in clear need of reform, and a move away from an exam–focused system is welcome, but you simply cannot engage in a reform of this magnitude without bringing the key stakeholders with you; and one of the most obvious key stakeholders are teachers.
They have serious and justified concerns over the capacity at school and system level to deal with the current proposals at a time when teacher numbers have been slashed, class sizes have increased, middle management posts have disappeared, budgets have been dramatically reduced and thousands of key pastoral resources such as guidance counsellors have been lost. Teachers must have confidence in the change they are implementing in their classrooms.
And Minister O Sullivan's most recent announcement to proceed with the planned Junior Cert reforms without agreement from the teachers isn’t helping matters. The reality is the Government rushed this reform from the outset and alienated teachers in process. The inept handling of the Junior Cert reform is typical of this government’s autocratic, top–down, non-collaborative, out-dated governing style.
The Government needs to restore a spirit of partnership to the process of Junior Cert reform. Negotiations must resume. Our children’s education must at all times be protected.
Next year 2016 is a landmark year for our nation. It will mark one hundred years since the Easter Rising of 1916. In recent times we find ourselves looking back, interpreting past events, considering appropriate measures of commemoration, evaluating the significance of this rebellion. This kind of conversation is important as we attempt to make sense of the roots of our history. It should be a positive and inclusive conversation which does not divide but unites all politics, all people
The Green Party values the uniqueness of our culture and its rich and diversified traditions. And the Green Party is an inclusive party, never preoccupied with borders, tribes or territories. With the Westminster elections taking place in May we wish our comrades in the Northern Ireland Greens lead by Steven Agnew the very best, and it’s heartening that through Cllr Ross Brown's success last year, for the first time we have Green Party representation in Belfast City Council.
We also hope that Caroline Lucas will be joined by other green MPs in the House of Commons.
The Green Party, through its very ethos, cherishes our heritage and seeks to protect it.
And when the Green Party refer to heritage, we recognise the treasure of our unique and beautiful language – protecting our heritage means protecting our language. Tír gan teanga, Tír gan anam. Ní rud polaitiúil í an teanga agus cuireann sé aoibhneas orm go bhfuil sí ag fás mar theanga labhartha i measc daoine ó tradisiún eile, sa tuaisceart. Caithfimid í a chothú agus a neartú.
Members, the Government parties have clearly moved into election mode, placing much emphasis and their political survival on the next budget – that budget is likely to become the latest instalment in a sorry history of auction politics. Have lessons not been learned? Are we about to see a litany of election manifestos which have a quest for power and not people at their very core? I say enough is enough! We need an end to this populist and spineless style of politics.
The Green Party is back in local government. Now it is time to return to Dáil Eireann.
Let’s face this challenge together. Determined, united and focused like never before. No one is saying it is going to be easy, but we must give it our best shot, with every ounce of energy we have, by starting today, not tomorrow or next month but here today.
Members, Our fate is in our hands.
We can restore a green voice to Dáil Eireann.
We must restore a green voice to Dáil Eireann.
Together, let’s make it happen.