Political inaction will cost us the Earth
“Everybody has to think in terms of ‘we only have at most two decades to save the world’,” she said last week, on publication of the latest study that shows how we’re burning the planet to bits.
It was one of those weeks, when Armageddon loomed large on the horizon — globally and nationally.
Just as one report was published about the destruction of the planet, another, on how rural Ireland is in long, slow decline, saw the light of day. Mrs Robinson’s observation could well be applied to rural Ireland. If something drastic isn’t done in the next few decades to radically arrest the decline, the character of the State will change, with unknown consequences.
On Monday, the Taoiseach Enda Kenny and two of his senior ministers were on hand for the publication of the report of the Commission for the Economic Development of Rural Areas. The report was compiled through extensive socio-economic research and a national listening tour, headed up by CEDRA’s chairman, Pat Spillane.
More than 100 meetings were held, at which all range of individuals and interests threw in their tuppence worth. The research is extensive. Primary among the stats is a stark reality: while there was a 114% increase in urban unemployment since 2008, the rise has been 192% in rural areas.
‘Rural Ireland’, in this report, was defined as the areas outside the five main cities of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Galway.
Of course, that definition encompasses highly diverse areas, populations, and sub-cultures.
The problems of Mitchelstown and Cahir differ greatly from those of Belmullet, Cahirciveen or the Beara peninsula. While the vibrancy of youth bleeds from towns dotted around the State, other areas, on the periphery or nestling far from the main centres, are suffering terminal decline.
What to do? Like the man says, ‘if I could at all, I wouldn’t start from here’. As with the enveloping doom of climate change, efforts to arrest the decline of rural Ireland are taking off a tad late. The property bubble masked the long-term problems, and put off the evil day, at a time when resources and vision could have been deployed for long-term benefit.
When the whole economic edifice was washed away on the banking tsunami, the growing problems of rural Ireland were lost at sea. Now, the tide of recession appears to be slowly receding, a new landscape is heaving into view. Property prices are flying in Dublin, and crawling up, also, in the other cities.
Employment, mainly through foreign direct investment, and the domestic companies that service that sector, is creeping up.
Again, this is largely confined to the cities, mainly Dublin. A new fissure is opening up in the country like never before.
This is the backdrop to the publication of the CEDRA report. And what do we get? Two ministers and a Taoiseach launching the document in time for their party’s canvassers to reference it on the doorstep. Enda Kenny, Phil Hogan and Simon Coveney all got in on the act, and pledged to transform rural Ireland, or die trying.
Spillane’s endeavours, in providing his profile and service (gratis) should be acknowledged, but ultimately the report is full of motherhood and apple pie, aspiration and fuzzy vision.
Here’s how it’s going to be in rural Ireland: “rural Ireland will become a dynamic, adaptable and outward looking multi-sectoral economy supporting vibrant, resilient and diverse communities experiencing a high quality of life, with an energised relationship between rural and urban Ireland, which will contribute to its sustainability for the benefit of society as a whole.”
That sounds just the business, but what’s going to happen on the far side of the local and European elections? Without leadership in Cabinet, the myriad of economic and social problems will not be addressed. A range of issues needs fixing. For too long, the powers-that-be have conflated the interests of farming with those of rural Ireland. But the broader interests of those who live beyond the main population centres need to be addressed. Issues like micro-financing, links between rural industry and institutes of technology, and provision of basic infrastructure, like broadband, will only be addressed through strong leadership at government level.
It’s all very well creating Rural Economic Development areas, or RED zones, as outlined in the CEDRA report. But without somebody of influence operating the green light, the portents are not good.
Will it happen? Don’t bet on it. Arresting long-term decline is beyond the ken of short-term politics. Another facet of rural life was on display last week, offering a hint of how the future could be addressed in one area. On Tuesday, more than 5,000 people protested in Dublin about the installation of wind turbines and pylons across the country. They have fears about health — some justified — and anger about how the energy installers crept up on their communities, as if they intended to throw up infrastructure by stealth.
A mindset is taking hold among people opposed to these energy plans. Some have disputed the requirement for wind energy at all. On Tuesday, a woman from a group called Wind Aware was on TV debate show Prime Time explaining why wind doesn’t work. Notwithstanding her bona fides, it was all hot air.
Wind is one of the main renewable energy sources that will be required if we are to save the planet from the changes being wreaked on the climate.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) made clear, in its report last week, that wind is a vital component for the future.
Why can’t the installation of energy infrastructure in rural Ireland be done in partnership with communities? The current modus operandi is for operators to go into communities, spread around a few euro, and get on with the job.
How much better that the goalposts be changed. Involve communities on a partnership basis. Seek agreement from within, about issues like setback distances.
A new approach might impinge on the bottom line and the corporate goals of the operators, but we all have to readjust, now that the planet is on its way to a hiding.
The problems of rural Ireland require creative solutions. So, also, the problems of climate change. This country can, in its own little way, make some tracks.
Reconfiguring how energy projects are handled can give rural Ireland a leg up into the future.
There are many others that will require some serious thought and resources.
All that is blocking progress in this matter — and to a far greater extent in climate change — is the inability of the body politic, nationally and internationally, to think long-term, beyond the next election. That needs to change rapidly, because time is running out.
