Greener on the other side

The most hardened cynic might suggest it’s an election year and Minister Eamon Ryan only visited Cavan because he’s aware the ‘Green agenda’ remains a tough sell to many rural Irelanders.

Despised by farmers, apparently, and supposedly loved by the ‘wokerati’, the citycentric cycle lover arrived to the Breffni county in an electric SUV, a small entourage in tow, and one national journalist embedded. It had taken more than a dozen letters from Cavan County Council to get the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, as well as Transport here, though he was always bound to stop off while touring local authorities to underscore the need for localised climate action plans.

Cavan, where elected members have at times been scathing of Minister Ryan, convened a special meeting to accommodate last Tuesday’s visit (January 9). The battle lines had been drawn well in advance, really ever since the Dublin Bay South TD first took office. From that point on, councillors everywhere had a name and a face to blame. And an obvious one at that. The Greens. Of course. Those tree-hugging sandal-wearing lefties and their kooky tofu eating ideas, growing salads on south facing windowsills and fixated on bovine flatulence.

Local councillors pressed Minister Ryan on a range of subjects deeply rooted in Cavan’s heavy soil, and on Government policies from which they feel disconnected and only appear to widen the urban-rural divide. Queries about roads funding, flooding, the Virginia bypass and the ‘East-West Link’, on public transport, greenways, ash dieback and the interconnector were lobbed at Minister Ryan like proverbial potatoes too hot to handle. Clad in a tailored suit, he fielded each with a mix of diplomacy and conviction.

It was a marked departure from when Minister Ryan, unbeknownst to himself, met only a select few councillors on a virtual call during the pandemic; and night-and-day by contrast from then Minister for Transport Shane Ross’ 2018 visit, that ended with him leaving without answering any questions - an anecdote that grows legs with each retelling.

Climate plan

Earlier Minister Ryan visited Cavan Town’s Urban Greenway and launch a fund worth €27m, one of the largest of its kind, and allocated €440,000 to local groups building low carbon communities.

It was however the impending deadline to adopt a draft Climate Action Plan that specifically focused Minister Ryan’s mind. He visits Donegal next before finally meeting elected members in Meath.

“I’m keen to listen and to share what does this mean for every council. What are the opportunities? What are the challenges?”

Ireland has committed to halving greenhouse emissions by 2030, and reaching net zero by 2050. Minister Ryan says the EU has passed 21 pieces of legislation “steering” all member states towards the “switch away from fossil fuels towards a cleaner environment”.

Such obligations, he said, are “immense”, however, counties that adapt will be best placed in the future of tomorrow.

To Minister Ryan’s mind Cavan’s strong agri-food industry is the “first place to start”.

“I know it’s controversial and there’s all sorts of strong lines, ‘environmental versus agriculture’, ‘farmers versus Greens’, or whatever. In my mind that’s not going to work. There’s no one on my side, the Green political movement, engaged in blaming, finger-pointing, putting farmers up as key culprits and in need of change. I think they will and are already changing.”

County-specific Climate Action Plans are not “just about street lighting” he added. They’re instead geared towards each local authority “showing leadership”.

Cavan, he acknowledged, already has a “fair few” wind farms. “Mark my words, the world is only going in one direction and it’s in a renewable power direction. Countries and counties that are good at renewable power will have the industry and economy of the future,” he forecast.

To that he married transport and housing. The latter will be exemplified in future by three key concepts - better balanced development, more compact, and low carbon. Transport solutions will then be moulded to suit, with rural transport already doubling in 2023. The same level of expansion could be achieved in 2024, thus creating what Minister Ryan describes as a “virtuous circle”.

In that regard he sees Virginia, with its plans for a bypass, as on the cusp of a bright new future.

“A stunning 19th century market town, 2,500 people living in it at the moment, a new water treatment facility going in. If you take the traffic out, that’s an example of a town that can really thrive.”

This was T.P. O’Reilly’s (FG) question to the minister, who sought commitment from government to deliver on the promise of a project talked about for almost a quarter of a century.

Delivery is not without its challenges however, as the minister pointed out. The National Development Plan 2021-2030, with its aspirational list of €100bn-plus worth of projects, has been curtailed by inflation. “That’s not going to go away, this government, next government, whoever’s in power. It’s a similar problem. It’s reality.”

But it is the minister’s belief that bypassing towns should be the “next first priority” for government.

Virginia, currently at Phase 3 (Design and Environmental Evaluation) and still dealing with throughput of up to 12,000 vehicles per day, is up against similar demands from Carrick-On-Shannon, Tipperary, Listowel, Moycullen, Adare, Newtownabbey, Abbeyfeale, and Newcastle West to name a few. “But Virginia is right up there,” stated Minister Ryan more forcefully than maybe he initially intended.

Regardless, he feels it vitally important that any town bypassed gets the “benefit”.

“You put all this expensive bypass infrastructure in and then you find you still have a huge throughput of traffic. You don’t get the benefit.

“Virginia is such a beautiful town, why wouldn’t you make it a really special place, and I think that would actually be the game-changer when we’re putting the bypass in,” said Minister Ryan.

‘Maintain and protect’

John Paul Feeley (FF) asked about roads. Cavan, with nearly 3,000km of public network, 95% of which is regional or local, received €17.5M for repair and upgrades in 2024. The figure, the Blacklion representative said, fails to take account of the “cumulative deficit” due to cuts since 2009, totalling now €95M.

“It’s having a serious and detrimental impact on our roads,” fumed Cllr Feeley, who said it would cost an additional €210M to bring all roads back up to their highest standard.

Like Cathaoirleach Philip Brady, he too asked the minister for more roads funding.

Paddy McDonald (SF) followed up regarding the Local Improvement Scheme, which elicited the response that it’s best served by Minister Heather Humphrey’s Department (Rural and Community Development). Last year Cavan spent €1.74M on fixing 23 laneways. But the backlog is now 10 years and growing, with some 200 applicants on the list.

“The difficulty is, if we divert funds from public roads, while they’re in effect used as public carriageways, we have to prioritise funding, and it is a private network,” explained the Minister.

He committed to asking if allocations can be announced earlier to ease the work of councils. He also acknowledged the need to see progress on the proposed East West Link when quizzed by Aontú’s Sarah O’Reilly.

Some €250,000 was awarded last year to figure a solution to the series of dangerous bends on the R118 Rathkenny Cavan to Cootehill section. With such heavy daily industrialised traffic, Cllr O’Reilly said regional roads are fast becoming “not fit for purpose” in some areas.

Three-course dinner

Throughout, the importance of effective communication between central authorities and local representatives was emphasised by the minister, only for Independent Shane P O’Reilly, who proclaimed himself Minister Ryan’s“greatest critic”, to flag how of 14 letters were sent to the Green Party leader’s office, just six got a reply.

“Very disappointing for us elected to represent the people to find we’re not even worth a response. That’s very disheartening,” said Cllr O’Reilly who quickly moved on to the lack of park-and-ride facilities, specifically at Whitegate on the N3.

Atkins Consultants, on behalf of TII, recently completed a survey of 27 bus stops and eight ‘ad hoc’ park and share locations along the N3.

“For the people who are travelling, we’re left with a situation at Whitegate where, as a local authority, we can do nothing unless given the go ahead by TII and NTA,” said Cllr O’Reilly. “It has led to a situation where we’re facing a real possibility of a major accident and loss of life.”

Cllr O’Reilly also asked for Minister Ryan to take the NCT to task for failing motorists on non-safety related issues such as not having ‘IRL’ on numberplates.

He finished on the subject of reducing carbon emissions by saying he and the minister will “continue to differ because I’m a strong believer you’re asking us in rural Ireland to have three courses for a starter. We need to start to do things a little easier and with a little more encouragement, and less implementation just for the sake of things said to us from Europe.”

Look to Leitrim

“It behoves us to look at it in a safer way,” agreed the minister of the Whitegate situation. “It makes a lot of sense.”

But he disagreed on lowering “safety standards” for vehicle testing, outlining the imminent reductions to speed limits as being one of many other changes set to be implemented.

He followed this with a response to Carmel Brady’s (FG) point about public transport, and how, in some areas, locals often had to drive to their nearest Local Link stop.

Along with wanting more shelters and safer stops, Minister Ryan suggested Cavan “looks to Leitrim” who are “ahead of the curve” after successfully obtaining funds to integrate their Local Link with a hackney and community ebike scheme. He later added that greenways were “not just for tourists” but for locals to use on their daily commutes too. “If we build for locals, the tourists will follow.”

The minister admitted he’d never considered the safety implications of Ash Dieback for motorists, a question posed by Áine Smith (FF); and was also unaware of restrictions for farmers clearing drains to prevent flooding, a matter raised by Peter McVitty (FG).

Cllr Patricia Walsh (FF) meanwhile asked if the government can do more to stop banned solid fuels being sold south of the border.

“A lot more work needs to be done,” accepted Minister Ryan, who suggested there are “better quality” ways to heat homes in response to a question from Brendan Fay (Ind) on banning open fires from newly built homes.

Elsewhere the minister welcomed council plans, highlighted by Winston Bennett (FG), to spend €30M on developing a renewable energy hub at Corranure, complete with a five megawatt solar farm, anaerobic digester and additional waste cell. But he warned: “We have to learn from the mistakes of others.”

If done right, it could result in a “win-win” for both industry and agriculture in Cavan.

There were follow up questions from Cllr Feeley regarding afforestation and also the National Rail Strategy, which failed to take into account cross-border relations by excluding Fermanagh entirely. The minister said he was conscious of both subjects.

Interconnector

Lastly Cllr Clifford Kelly (FF) tabled a question on the controversial North South Interconnector.

Minister Ryan stressed the project is “critical” to energy stability and sustainability in Ireland into the future. Opting to put the 400 kV line from Yurleenan (Tyrone) to Batterstown (Meath) and through east Cavan overground was “not an easy solution”. But undergrounding was fraught with greater difficulty, and the minister added he does “not see an easy alternative” if it gets held up for another 20 years.

“Where the grid is, that’s where the jobs will be” said the minister, stating that with Eirgrid currently engaging with landowners over access “we’ll have to wait and see how it plays out”.