‘People need to be brought along’ – Cllr Feeley

Councillors have criticised the Government’s climate change plan but said people in rural Ireland are willing to make “realistic” changes to tackle the issue. Raising the issue at the November meeting of Cavan County Council, Cllr John Paul Feeley (FF) said “people need to be brought along rather than forced” as part of the plan.

He said Ireland faces “massive challenges” in tackling climate change but it also provides “great possibilities” for rural Ireland.

His motion before the local authority called for the measures in the climate plan to “reflect the need of and are realistic for rural Ireland”.

Cllr Feeley was highly critical of measures planned for the agriculture sector, describing it as “being taken as a soft target”, despite being “among the most sustainable in the world”.

Under the plan, announced earlier this month, the Government is aiming to cut the country’s carbon emissions by 51% by 2030. It also hopes to reduce emissions from the agri sector by between 22-30%.

Cllr Feeley also criticised the push for people to move to electric cars, saying they’re “not an option for many” as the technology is not at a sufficient level to make them conducive to rural areas.

Other councillors were also critical of the plan. Cllr Shane P O’Reilly (Ind) began his remarks by saying he is not a “climate change denier” but described Ireland’s stance as “always having to be the best in class”.

“We always have to be the first at everything. We are a dot on the edge of Europe. We need to start doing things that are workable,” he exclaimed.

He too spoke of his opposition to electric cars joking he’d like to see how they would cope with day-to-day work on a farm or in a rural area.

“Go to the bog for a couple of tonnes of turf and see how it gets on,” he laughed.

Cllr TP O’Reilly (FG) seconded the motion but said the country is “facing into climate change and we need to play our part”.

He extolled the role farmers and the agri-food sector could play and the opportunities currently being missed.

He called for measures to support the construction of anaerobic digesters across the country. These units break down organic matter, through which biogas is generated. This can then be used to generate electricity or heat. He also said incentives are needed before many will install solar panels and other measures.

“Better grants are needed,” he said, claiming up to 90% support would be needed before the measures would be realistic.