Mayo Letters: All stick, no carrot from government addicted to punishing public
Sir,
THE government has added yet another item to its growing list of policies designed to look green but feel red-hot in the pockets of ordinary people.
The carbon tax hike that kicked lesds than two weeks ago does nothing to cut emissions and everything to increase household bills.
We’re told this is tough medicine. But the problem isn’t just the dosage, it’s the lack of any spoonful of honey to help it go down.
There’s no expanded rail network to help people leave the car at home. Bus services remain patchy and overpriced. Our national grid is so under-resourced, as Storm Eowyn showed, and the international outage, like the Spanish interconnector disruption just this week, is not something the governmentt considers in its attempt to make us fully electric dependent.
The government tells us to drive electric – but also warns that electricity outages could become the norm.
We’re not facing climate policy here – we’re facing climate theatre, with ordinary people cast as the villains and no plan for a second act.
It would be one thing if this government had offered alternatives such as affordable public transport, rural connectivity, or even a stable grid that doesn’t buckle when a kettle boils. But instead, their entire strategy amounts to hitting households with higher bills and hoping for the best.
It’s a classic case of optics over outcomes. They’d rather look green than lead green.
Let’s not forget, the same Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael backbench TDs who often moaned about 'Green Party pressure' now stand alone in government and still drive forward with the same regressive charges. No Greens to blame this time. No fig leaf left to hide behind. Just the cold comfort of their own policies.
And speaking of the Greens – on the very day working families are squeezed yet again, Roderic O’Gorman is re-elected as leader of a party that’s all but vanished from the Dáil. If there’s one thing the Greens do well, it’s recycling waste – including old leadership waste – no matter how many seats are lost in the process.
And still Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael continue to enact their policies in absentia, like a government haunted by the ghost of climate ministers past.
Ireland deserves real climate action, not just higher charges dressed up as virtue. That means investment in alternatives, support for families, and a long-overdue upgrade to our energy infrastructure.
But instead, this government continues to reach for the stick while throwing away the spoon.
They say we must all do our part. But it’s always the same people footing the bill – and it’s not the ones who set the thermostat in Leinster House.
Yours sincerely,
Councillor Deirdre Lawless,
Mayo County Council.
Democracy is fragile
Sir,
ELEVEN years after the abolition of town councils by the then FG/Labour government, the majority of the people of Ireland are still without local public representation.
The excuse given by the then government was that local government was too costly to fund. It was my first time hearing that democracy had a price ceiling. What a contemptuous devaluation of people and local influence.
We pride ourselves on being a representative democracy. This constitutional recognition counted for nought when a significant alteration of constitutional rights was expunged from our laws.
Local public representation became a reality in 1898 when the British government presented the Irish people with a framework for participation in their management of local affairs. British rule in Ireland recognised that the best way to get towns and counties to function better was to put local people in charge of their own affairs. And so district councils were born.
Over the decades the structure evolved and urban councils became pivotal to the overall good for their towns and respective counties. Later again these councils reconfigured and became town councils, which were populated by elected representatives from the local communities. Sadly, this structure was to become the final forum for local public participation in town management, decision making and the promotion of local economies.
Speaking at the centenary celebrations marking the handing over of Dublin Castle on January 15, 2022, the then Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, said: “The truth is we live at a moment when efforts to distort and manage public histories are becoming more serious.” The context, though different, reflects very much what is happening in our country today.
For a functioning democracy to work, it must be supported by inclusive citizenship, equality, participation and respect. Today we are no longer a 'representative' democracy. Rather the opposite is true. It is therefore reasonable to ask where these four pillars are now?
Following the global economic crash of 2008, Fianna Fáil were ousted from office and consigned to the opposition benches. From there, FF leader Micheál Martin said that when FF are next back in government, they would reinstate town councils. In the recent general election, the FF manifesto made much of the fact that they would seek to restore local government. To that end they would set up a 'local democracy taskforce' to finalise a programme for the reform and strengthening of local government. Continuing, it said that local government is 'the beating heart of our democracy'.
Belatedly, government policy now recognises that democracy is under threat globally from extremists, misinformation and disinformation. However, close reading of the small print does not give much hope for the return of town councils unless you live in a town with in excess of 7,500 people. Translated, it means the overwhelming majority of towns in the country will not get a town council back. All this is to be achieved within the lifetime of this government.
Since the abolition of town councils, the economic growth of towns across the country has slowed. Under executive rule, the management of towns and counties is no longer the preserve of public representatives on the new municipal authorities. Their voices have been stilled.
Democracy concerns collective decision-making. Democracy involves consultation and discussion in which the needs of communities are recognised and addressed. By abolishing town councils, the FG/Labour government disenfranchised the electorate.
The increasingly challenging times in which we live today people need to be more aware of just how fragile democracy is. The people have more power to change the current situation regarding local public representation than the people in power. Time to end the nonsense and reinstate town councils so that all will be treated as equals.
Yours sincerely,
Tom Flynn,
Westport,
Co. Mayo.