{news} Fw: USGP-INT Irish Green Leader John Gormley's Keynote Speech

[Justine McCabe]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Feinstein" <mfeinstein at feinstein.org>
To: "GP-US International Committee" <usgp-int at gp-us.org>
Sent: Saturday, April 12, 2008 5:06 PM
Subject: USGP-INT Irish Green Leader John Gormley's Keynote Speech


The Green Party/Comhaontas Glas in Ireland is having its annual national
meeting this weekend.

http://www.greenparty.ie/en/convention_08__1

Below is Green Party leader John Gormley's keynote speech

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0412/gormleyspeech.html



Friends:

It's great to be here in Louth. This has been our best Conference yet.
You can sense the enthusiasm and excitement. So far we have had great
ideas, energy, debate, discussion and friendship. And it's not over yet.
Can I thank most sincerely Councillor Mark Dearey and his team for doing
such an exceptional job here in Dundalk.

I know this is a joyous occasion for the Green Party. But today also we
have received news of the death of former President Patrick Hillery. He
was a very honourable statesman and we extend our sympathy to his family.

Stocktake

It has been an 'interesting' year.

A year which has seen our transformation from a Party of opposition to a
Party of Government, a year in which we translated vision into reality,
words into actions, policies into legislation. A year which has seen a
major growth in our Party membership. And it is you, the Party members,
who supported overwhelmingly our policy to enter Government, and it is
you, the Party members, who will ensure at all times that we remain true
to our founding principles and that we, in the words of John F Kennedy,
'use power, but that power does not use us'. And there is one person who
understands that better than most - a man of deep principle and
unswerving integrity, a man to whom the Green Party owes a great debt of
gratitude. He is my friend and former Party Leader, Minister for Food,
Trevor Sargent.

Managing radical change is always difficult. It brings with it
challenges and understandable fears. The Green Party understands the
nature of political power, its opportunities and its limitations. We
knew, and recognised honestly, that we could never get everything we
hoped for in Government, but equally we knew that outside of Government
we could achieve nothing. What remains unchanged and steadfast is our
vision of a better society and, with each and every day, more and more
people can relate to our vision of better planned communities, with good
quality and well-insulated houses where people have access to good
public transport, and to schools and playgrounds and crèches for their
children, where there is real local government and not just local
administration, where our energy comes from renewable sources, where we
have clean food, clean water and a healthy environment for present and
future generations. It is a vision of hope and common sense from the
Party of common sense and hope, or, as Eamon Ryan put it today: a party
with a purpose.

Tackling climate change

My friends, we know that we are still a long way from achieving that
society, but let's examine this evening what we have achieved already in
Government in a very short space of time. You all know that when we made
that momentous decision to enter Government, our primary motivation was
a desire to tackle the defining issue of our age - climate change. We
knew that all of the scientific evidence was now showing that we had a
10-year window of opportunity to stabilise CO2 emissions globally, and
that this required a major policy shift, a change in attitude, a new way
of political thinking, a new generosity, a new sense of partnership. We
set up the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Change and we gave the
chair of that Committee to a member of the opposition. We appointed
members of other opposition parties to key positions on State Boards
dealing with this issue because, frankly, these individuals were the
best people for the job and because climate change is far too important
to play politics with.

This evening I appeal to members of the opposition to reciprocate that
generosity, put away the petty squabbling and the cheap shots, forget
the negative nonsense, and come on board and work with us in the best
interest of this country and our planet. Let us all agree on the targets
and measures required to tackle climate change. It is vital that climate
change now forms a part of social partnership discussions.

There is so much to be done. But we know that, if we as a people put our
minds to it, we can achieve anything. It means that as citizens, as
workers, as employers and business people, as farmers, as voluntary
organisations and NGOs, we all need to play our part.

I believe that our system of social partnership offers the opportunity
for a new cross-sectoral approach complementing a strong cross-party
approach to tackle climate change.

We need to empower environmental NGOs to become part of social
partnership and that is why, as Minister for the Environment, I tripled
the funding for NGOs and made more money available for this purpose. We
in the Green Party value the contribution of the environmental NGOs and
we will do everything we can to secure their position.

Achieving in Government

Through our participation in Government, we have already changed
attitudes and behaviour; we have changed the nature of public discourse
on the issue of climate change. Just listen to the advertisements on the
radio for cars, which now use lower CO2 emissions as a selling point.
People are beginning, my friends, to think carbon - so much so that the
majority of people would now support the introduction of a carbon levy.
A new €13m awareness-raising campaign, the first ever of its kind, which
I recently launched, has revealed that people in our society are
beginning to understand that climate change is the biggest issue facing
humanity. It is our task to persuade them that having the Green Party in
Government and in council chambers across the country, is by far and
away the best means of ensuring that energy, security and climate change
issues are effectively tackled.

We acted promptly to introduce the country's first ever carbon budget
and set up a special Cabinet Committee on Climate Change and Energy
Security.

We implemented new rules to ensure that new houses will be 40% more
energy efficient, and this is only the beginning. We will improve this
to a 60% reduction in carbon dioxide by 2010, with the ultimate aim of
reaching zero carbon emissions by 2016. New residential guidelines for
urban areas will combat urban sprawl in our villages, towns and cities,
by ensuring that public transport and schools and other facilities are
provided when, and not after, the new homes are built. My friends, as
long as the Green Party is in Government, the days of bad and
irresponsible planning are over.

For car owners, we have made it cheaper for them to buy low emission
vehicles by changing the motor tax and VRT systems. These are now based
on CO2 emissions. From 1 January next, we will ensure that only
low-energy light bulbs are on sale in shops. All of these measures show
that Green politics is not only good for the planet, it is also good for
people's pockets. Energy security and climate change will define how we
live in the 21st century. It will affect our economy and quality of
life. Already, all over the world, people are experiencing severe
pressure as a result of climate change - in a world that is running out
of oil. In Ireland, spiralling fuel and food prices are putting families
under pressure. We recognise this reality and are doing everything
possible to plan for the future.

Minister Eamon Ryan is leading the way. He has increased subsidies for
off-shore wind from €57 to €140 per megawatt hour. He has announced a
€26m investment in ocean energy and a €200m investment in energy
efficient research. Only two weeks ago Eamon Ryan secured a €22bn
investment in the ESB to revolutionise the company, making it a leading,
green utility in the world.

These are remarkable achievements by any standard. They show clearly how
we are translating vision into action, and vindicate over and over again
our decision to enter Government.

Our Minister for Food and horticulture, Trevor Sargent, has been working
diligently, and he bas been delivering. He has announced a €21m
investment in sustainable agriculture, he initiated a new organic food
strategy to be published very soon, and he has sent potato-growing kits
to over 4,000 schools to teach our children about the value of food
security. He is progressing the network of farmers' markets, working
with local authorities and my department. When you open the Farmers'
Journal - as I do every week now that I'm a Minister - you frequently
see Trevor's picture is staring out at you. And it is because of
Minister Trevor Sargent's work that the farmers, the food producers and
the consumers of this country know that, in the Green Party, they have a
real friend in Government.

I want to take this opportunity this evening to thank our other members
of the Parliamentary Party in Oireachtas Éireann for their invaluable
contributions to making our participation in Government a success - our
Deputy Leader, Mary White, Ciarán Cuffe TD and Paul Gogarty TD, as well
as our Senators Dan Boyle and Deirdre de Búrca. We form a very tight and
disciplined unit based on collegiality. I would also like to thank our
Councillors from around the country, who know better than most what the
Green Party is achieving in Government. They know we have succeeded in
getting more investment in water treatment plants, in sewage treatment
plants, in preserving our green spaces through more special areas of
conservation, special protection areas, special amenity orders, more
investment in recycling facilities and the roll-out of brown bins for
biodegradable waste. Our Councillors know that we have succeeded in
getting a massive 43% increase in the budget for the Environmental
Protection Agency and a 37% increase for the National Parks and Wildlife
Service, which will result in better enforcement of environmental
legislation. They have seen the success and they know it's good for the
country that the Greens are in Government.

Our Councillors and local election candidates understand the importance
of real local government. One of our founding principles states clearly
that decision making should take place at the lowest effective level.
Yet over the last number of years in this country, we have seen decision
making powers shift to the centre; we have witnessed the disempowerment
of local councillors and local communities. How many times have we heard
people at public meetings complain about the lack of local democracy and
about the failure to listen to their voices? With the Green Party in
Government, this trend towards centralisation will cease. Our vision of
local government will become a reality. The forthcoming publication of
the Green Paper on Local Government Reform will start a process which
will lead to the election of a mayor, with real powers, for the Dublin
region in 2011. This will be followed with the election of mayors in
other parts of the country. It represents the biggest advance in local
government reform in the history of this state and it is happening
because we are turning vision into action in Government.

But there are so many other areas where our presence in Government is
having a positive influence on Government policy. Our Programme for
Government recognises the huge contribution to society made by our
senior citizens over many years. They deserve our support and that is
why we honoured our commitment to increase the old age pension. Next
week my Department will approve €15m for local councils to improve
public access for people with disabilities. We also ensured that the
Programme for Government commitment to recognise the 12 existing ABA
schools. In Government, we are using our position to improve the lives
of children with autism and the lives of their dedicated parents.

It is also clear that ever since the Green Party's participation in
Government, there has been a distinct change in the attitude to the
problem of alcohol in our society. I said it in opposition and I repeat
it as a Government minister, it is time to deal comprehensively with a
problem that has left so much tragedy in its wake. We will use our
influence to ensure that the necessary measures are introduced to tackle
the alcohol problem. Alcohol has contributed significantly to our health
problems and progress in reforming our health service has been slow. The
health section of the Programme for Government contains a clear
commitment negotiated by this Party to improve the access of public
patients to our health system. Access to health can never become a
commodity, we expect to see tangible improvements in access for public
patients at the end of our five years in Government. Delivering health
care begins at an early age and that is why we in the Green Party are so
pleased that Minister Eamon Ryan has today indicated his intention to
introduce legislation to for a code curbing advertising of junk food to
children.

Europe

Much of the legislation which we use has its origins in EU Directives.
We are very proud to be a pro-European Party, working closely with our
counterparts in the European Greens. There are now Green Ministers in
Finland, the Czech Republic, Latvia and Italy.

This evening I would like to extend a very warm welcome to the Czech
Minister for Education, Ondrej Liska. Ondrej is one of the youngest
Ministers in Europe and an inspiration to all young greens and to all
young people interested in politics.

Mar is eol daoibh go léir, is teanga oiifigiuil í an Ghaeilge san Eoraip
anois. Dá bharr sin, is minic a bhíonn deis agam labhairt as Gaeilge sa
Bhruiséal agus támuid bródúil as an méid sin.

Tá muidne sa Chómhaontas Glas go láidir ar son polasaí an
dá-theangachais. Sa rialtos ta muid ag cur an fís seo i bhfeidhm.

The Irish Green Party is not just a European party, it is also an
all-island party. I am delighted therefore to welcome Brian Wilson,
Member of the Northern Assembly, and our Northern colleagues here this
evening. I have no doubt that Brian will be joined by others in Stormont
after the next elections. The Good Friday Agreement - 10 years old this
weekend - has established the Stormont Assembley and now allows us to
move beyond sectarian politics.

Respect for human rights must extend to all cultures and countries. One
country which has been exploited and suppressed and suffered for far too
long is Tibet. We condemn unequivocally the flagrant abuse of human
rights by the Chinese government and call on the Chinese government to
enter dialogue with the Dalai Lama.

It is our dedication to human rights, social justice and ecological
sustainability which has motivated this Party since its foundation. It
is this dedication which has also motivated our insistence on high
standards in public life. Unlike other parties, the Green Party has
taken a principled position, perhaps to our own disadvantage, to refuse
donations from big business. We have always said that we would look
after our political morality. It has been said that when we were faced
with the choice between looking after other parties' ethics and saving
the planet, we took the easier option and decided to save the planet.
And, rightly so - and we make no apologies.

Our position since entering Government on standards in public life has
not changed one iota. The Green Party has consistently expressed full
confidence in the Mahon Tribunal and expressed the hope that it will
reach its conclusions quickly. And it is our fervent hope that all of
the tribunals of inquiry will root out forensically every last morsel of
corruption from Irish political life.

Conclusion

We are entering more uncertain times. At several points during our
country's history, we have faced major challenges and found the vision
to change. When our economy was on its knees in the 1950s, TK Whittaker
and others had the vision to modernise and open our markets. In the
1980s, faced with a crippling national debt, the opposition and
Government worked together to help lay the foundations for a new
prosperity. Over the last decade, we showed the world what an
enthusiastic, educated and entrepreneurial country could achieve. Our
nation, more used to emigration, has welcomed many thousands of
hard-working immigrants to our shores. But there are major new
challenges ahead of us and these are made more urgent by the tightened
global economy. I am certain that in this Party, and in this Government
and across the rest of this island, there are people who share my love
of this country and who share my strong desire to change it for the
better. We now have the chance to face the challenges of this millennium
together.

And yet this crisis offers our country enormous opportunities as we move
to a low carbon society. In the past ten months we have shown that we
are a Party of discipline, of competence, of innovation, a Party that
has the necessary skill to deal with the most pressing issues that
humanity now faces.

The three green ministers are working from early morning until late at
night, squeezing every minute out of every day for the betterment of our
country. We are so aware of the privilege we have been given and of the
weight of responsibility and expectation on our shoulders.

There are times when we may fall short and we ask for your
understanding. But I believe that so far our tenure has been a success
story.

We have a list of achievements to our name and that list will continue
to grow as long as we are in Government. We have a very good story to
tell, so leave this Conference tomorrow refreshed and re-energised. Be
ready to tell our story. Be ready to put our ideas - our vision - into
action. And be ready to build a better Ireland for present and future
generations.

Thank you.