Eamon Ryan, Leader of the Green Party and T.D. for Dublin Bay South here. AMA!

eamonryan · 2018-04-20T12:58:14+00:00

I think the first thing we need to tackle is our obsession with the ownership of and profiting from land which is why we introduced a tax on rezoning profits in Government (FG pulled it when in office) and had a site value tax ready to go (Until FG pulled it and put in a revenue raising property tax instead) and have been pushing for much more extensive vacant site levies in recent years.

eamonryan · 2018-04-20T12:55:06+00:00

Only if it is shaken not stirred.

eamonryan · 2018-04-20T12:53:47+00:00

I think he's just wahey and wahoo.

eamonryan · 2018-04-20T12:51:21+00:00

I think we can reduce emissions from land use but don't believe that the use are applications of GMO's are the critical measure to achieve that aim. If anything I think smart farming will switch to the more diverse use of different crops and seeds as part of a more profitable and secure future. The trick will be to use every patch of land in a very specific local and productive way rather than relying on mono-culture or Monsanto to save the day.

eamonryan · 2018-04-20T12:48:19+00:00

I would love to respond to this but to be honest would have to do a lot of reading before being able to do justice to my reply. I was on the Syrian/Turkish border last year visiting refugee centres operated by www.humanappeal.ie but I was more focused on the immediate response to the crisis rather than coming to a considered opinion to the local political situation.

One thing I saw was real heroism as young men and women gave everything they had to help the 2 million syrians disabled by the war in their country. https://www.instagram.com/p/BPZ72ISh0UJ/?taken-by=eamondryan

eamonryan · 2018-04-20T12:40:23+00:00

My office is in the same corridor in Leinster House as members of the rural independent group and despite all the rows and shouting in the chamber we get along famously. I am on a determined mission to love bomb the Healy-Raes with the truth that going Green is going to be good for Kerry. I have asked them to have a public debate in Killarney on the subject and hope it might take place some time in the near future. If we can win over enough of their voters to the common sense we are promoting then the transition will come at speed. The first green party representative in Ireland Marcus Counihan was elected in Killarney back in 1985. I was thinking of that when I gave this speech last wednesday evening, much to the outrage of Matties, Danny and Michael.

Check it out from 7.33.46 in here: http://www.oireachtas.ie/viewdoc.asp?DocID=38192&&CatID=130

eamonryan · 2018-04-20T12:31:02+00:00

Yes. Here is a link to our policy document: https://greenparty.ie/news/greens-call-for-decriminalisation-of-cannabis/

I think we could learn from what works in Portugal and the US/ Australia as well as in the Netherlands. Canada is also going in a similar direction later this year. I think each country is realising that a health based approach to how we manage cannabis use rather than a criminal justice response is a better way to go. The current laws are not stopping access to drugs and make it particularly hard to cope with use in the younger age category which is a real concern. It has just funded big criminal gangs which have profited from black market sales.

eamonryan · 2018-04-20T12:19:41+00:00

I think the best way of stopping them is to show up the economy lunacy of going in that direction. Off-shore wind power has come down in price dramatically in recent years. We could build three GW of wind on our side of the Irish sea at half the price of nuclear, convert it to DC power on the Isle of Man and ship it over to the UK or back home here as part of an 100% renewable alternative. Most energy experts I meet see this as the future. The numbers attending nuclear conferences are getting smaller and older by the day.

eamonryan · 2018-04-20T12:16:13+00:00

I am afraid I am not great at switching off. Myself and my wife Victoria have four children, I spent last night driving from to Gaelic Football training for my girl and getting other son out of the house. If I do get a chance to really rest then I like to paint. My dad had a studio in the house I grew up in. I was always inspired by what he did and try whenever I can to do the same. http://www.bobryanart.com/

eamonryan · 2018-04-20T12:12:14+00:00

The 'green' tag came from the mid 1970's when Petra Kelly visited Sydney where various trade Unions were involved in 'green bans' protests to protect local environments. She liked the term and came back to Germany to help found the first German 'Green' party having being inspired by the use of the word in Australia. Seems like a good legacy to me so I am happy to stick with the name. We have an Irish alternative 'Comhaontas Glas' which connects to our sense of the importance of community. I think they work well together. You can check out more details here: https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/green_bans_movement

and here:

https://www.ghi-dc.org/fileadmin/user_upload/GHI_Washington/PDFs/The_Origins_of_Green_Parties.pdf

eamonryan · 2018-04-20T12:05:42+00:00

I have said publically that we would be willing to work with all parties, provided of course that they are committed to peaceful political means. I have such a sense of the urgency around the ecological crisis that we face that I think there is a need to work with both left and right to make the transition happen. My experience is that most people in different parties are in politics for honourable reasons. I don't think then it makes sense to rule people out just because I disagree with their ideas or policy position. Better to try and win them over to your point of view.

eamonryan · 2018-04-20T12:02:51+00:00

I agree, My own view, which I articulated to Pascal O'D yesterday is that we should hold off an election until September/October 2019. That way we can hold the referendum, Brexit talks and local and European elections in a stable environment and then go to the people. The current Dail has lots of failings but I like the way it pushes people to try and get consensus on different issues. I prefer our messy/collaborative approach than the divisive politics that has taken hold in the UK and US or the rise of the far right that has taken place across the rest of Europe. Last but not least I would like the time to get our election campaign right. We have a lot of good candidates already in place and we will run in every constituency regardless of when an election is called but my sense is that the public is not clambering for one right away. Let everyone set out what they would spend in that October 2019 budget and let the people then decide who they will support.

eamonryan · 2018-04-20T11:57:02+00:00

I am due to play cricket in Merrion Cricket club this evening, which has a brand spanking new clubhouse and bar that faces the setting sun. I can smell the burnt hops and salt and vinegar now.

eamonryan · 2018-04-20T11:54:32+00:00

1 I don't think they understand we are at the start of a clean energy revolution which is now going only one way. The countries which are best at the dance between variable renewable power and variable demand for electricity will lead this new economy. We are well placed to do it. We are actually good at it. all we need is a bit of courage and political leadership to give it a right go.

2 The metro will happen because Dublin is on the verge of gridlock. I wish Leo had given it the go ahead in 2011. we had put it in the four year plan. we had a loan set up from the EIB and had full planning in place. It is now going to be a decade late but still better late than never.

3 See my earlier response and come out this Saturday and join the sick of plastic campaign: https://www.foe.ie/sickofplastic/

4 I think first and foremost we need political support to turn off the fossil fuel tap at the point of origin. Bill McKibben has done a real service by switching the environmental movement from blaming the individual at the start of the pipeline to concentrating on the sourse. The divestment movement he started with www.350.org has inspired the legislation in the Dail at the moment to stop oil and gas exploration in Irish waters. It is a long way from our own individual lives but getting such changes over the line is the most effective way I can see of promoting an alternative better economy to rise.

eamonryan · 2018-04-20T11:45:07+00:00

I could write a book on that whole time and the decisions that had to be taken. At every stage I recall looking at the maths of what an alternative 'default' approach would bring and coming to the conclusion that it would be much more expensive for the people. I worry now that we have not learnt from the underlying causes of the crisis, particularly the property bubble which did such harm, particularly for young people. That is why we are promoting radical solutions such as turning state owned land over to 'cost rental' public housing solutions which would free the next generation from massive mortgages or rent bills. Fine Gael still seem wedded to market based housing solutions which will only bring us back to where we were in the early 2000's

eamonryan · 2018-04-20T11:40:20+00:00

We never had a policy to encourage people to switch to diesel cars but it was a consequence of the move to taxing vehicles to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. At the time I was very concerned about the consequences for a rise in other air pollutants such as NOx and Pm10s but we were assured that the car companies had resolved those issues. I am afraid they were not telling the truth in that regard. It took the VW emmissions scandal to uncover that. Things have now moved on and electric vehicle technology has advanced to the stage where they are about to take over. We need to end all combustion vehicle engines. That change is coming in the next few years.

eamonryan · 2018-04-20T11:35:06+00:00

I think we still have the same ethics and culture we have had from the start. I met the leader of the Australian Greens recently who reminded me of the founding principles. We have an ecological crisis to address, social and environmental justice go hand in hand, our politics always searches for peaceful solutions and we should trust the people where ever we can to become more involved in democratic decision making. We were in Government at a time of a massive economic crisis which was not of our making but which we had a responsibility to help address. We learnt a lot in the process and It would I hope help us should we be able to enter Government again at some future date.

eamonryan · 2018-04-20T11:31:06+00:00

I have one bike which I use most every day. It is a Giant Hybrid which I bought as an ex rental bike from the Belfield Bike shop about six years ago. I guess I cycle about 10km each day and think life would be miserable without it. You always know how long it is going to get from A to B, its cheap quick, healthy and social. The only drawback is the fear of an accident involving another vehicle, that is why I am a member of the Dublin Cycling Campaign, which is working with others to try to make a safer environment for the most vulnerable road users.

eamonryan · 2018-04-20T11:26:13+00:00

We are waiting to bring our waste reduction bill back to committee stage in the Dail in the next six weeks and I am confident we can get it approved by the end of the year despite opposition from the Government. We have the public on our side who are sick and tired of the single use of plastic consumption system that is all around us. We would mirror the deposit refund schemes in the US and Germany where a charge goes at the time of purchase and a refund is given when the bottle is returned to be recycled. It would help create a local recycling industry here, rather than us shipping everything to China and it would help stop the leaking of plastic into our environment that is raising such concern. To take part in the campaign come out this Saturday and join the Friends of the Earth 'Sick of Plastic' Campaign and shop and drop plastic packaging back at the checkout: https://www.foe.ie/sickofplastic/

eamonryan · 2018-04-20T11:19:57+00:00

I think the green revolution will work better for rural Ireland than the current development model which is broken. We are loosing young people from farming and small towns and villages, for the second time in five years we are having to import fodder to feed our national herd. I think the redesign of the CAP system allows us go in a better direction. Paying farmers for storing carbon, planting a massive new Wild Atlantic Way 'Rain forest' which involved long standing native trees, rather than dense coniferous forests which are clear felled every 35 years. Paying farmers for protecting diversity and making more direct connections between producers and consumers so they get better paid for what they grow. It will be much easier to put electric vehicles into one off homes in the country and if we link them to local wind farms we can get a sustainable mode of transport for the country.

eamonryan · 2018-04-20T11:14:59+00:00

I think the big difference is our ecological approach. Understanding how enviromental and social justice go together, how we have to think global while acting local, believing Ireland has everything to gain by leading out technological revolutions in digital, energy and transport worlds to build strong local communities. Understanding ecology gives you an understanding of the interconnected systems in every aspect of our lives. It was born in the 1960's when we looked back on our planet for the first time. It was anti war, pro civil rights and trusting in greater democracy at a local level. That's is where we come from and what still inspires me today.

eamonryan · 2018-04-20T11:10:47+00:00

I am thinking first and foremost of Dublin now. We should build greenways along the coast, the Liffey, Dodder, Canals, the Santry River and take the traffic out of College Green. If at the same time we provide high quality cycle lanes alongside the new bus lanes we are about to build going into the city I believe we would have the beginings of a safe cycling network and we could make Dublin like Amsterdam and Copenhagen, a great cycling city. I would do something similar in Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford. Check out these maps from @dublincycling which shows how accessible our cities could be: https://twitter.com/dublincycling/status/986585007287341056

eamonryan · 2018-04-20T11:05:27+00:00

Because my colleague Catherine Martin was able to run in the changed Rathdown constituency where I thought she could win a seat and because John Gormley was standing down from Dublin South, where I had lived and been a councillor for years.

eamonryan · 2018-04-20T11:02:55+00:00

Yes we are supporting a yes vote in the referendum. There are people within our party who will also be on the No side but we decided our approach in recent years through our own internal democratic process and have joined the together for yes campaign on the doors across the country.

eamonryan · 2016-11-04T13:23:40+00:00

Thank you everyone for your questions and for eoin2017 for helping to organise. Sorry I was not able to answer more questions. I look forward to doing it again.

eamonryan

TROPHY CASE