Green Party Delegates to Debate Housing, Public Banking and a New Republic
27th March 2015
Preview of Green Party Convention 2015 #GPC15
Friday March 27th, Kilkenny:
The Green Party Convention 2015 gets underway this evening at Langton’s Hotel in Kilkenny. The three day event will focus on motions submitted by members, the upcoming Carlow-Kilkenny by-election, and the General Election which will see Green Party candidates standing in every constituency.
Green Party Kilkenny Councillor Malcom Noonan, who will contest the Carlow-Kilkenny by-election in May, opens Convention proceedings with a public meeting on Friday evening. In keeping with the theme of Convention ‘Ideas into Action’ a panel of speakers will discuss with the audience local initiatives and responses to the coalition’s controversial reforms of local government and funding structures for the community and voluntary sectors.
On Saturday delegates will vote on a number of motions, including the reiteration of the call for a referendum to guarantee public ownership of water in Ireland. Members will also deliberate on a motion calling for a referendum to repeal the eighth amendment, and a separate motion to support the repeal should that referendum go ahead.
Delegates will also hear from experts on ideas to bring about significant improvements in public banking, housing and digital rights.
A motion on Public Banking proposes new local banks where lending would be carried out exclusively within a region and any interest or profit earned retained locally. With stakeholders as opposed to shareholders, dividends would not be paid and resources would instead be channelled into building capacity within individual business borrowers. This would greatly improve the quality of lending, and the management capacity of the SME sector.
Social issues such as increased funding of the health service, the removal of rent allowance, reform of the Derelict Sites Act, and access to publicly funded schools are also proposed.
Green Party Leader Eamon Ryan will give his Leader’s Speech at 5:40pm, while Deputy Leader Cllr Catherine Martin will address Convention at 5:20pm. Audio recordings and copies of the speeches will be available on request.
ENDS