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TRANSPORT MINISTER AND Green Party leader Eamonn Ryan has said he “fundamentally disagrees” with Fine Gael MEP candidate Regina Doherty after she likened cycle lanes in Dublin City to the Berlin Wall and accused Green politicians of being “arrogant” and “autocratic”.
Doherty said that the Green Party “have turned Dublin into a spaghetti junction of cycle lanes that have divided the city like East and West Berlin” and that they are “in thrall to the cyclists’ lobby to such an extent they are now doing damage to the concept of cycling”.
“We need to combat the over-mighty Greens in Europe,” she said and pledged to be a “watchdog” in the EU.
“We need a credible watchdog in Europe to mark the Greens on climate change. The Greens currently are doing more harm than good to the climate change agenda.”
She also criticised the Dublin Transport Plan, a Dublin City Council initiative which aims to divert through traffic away from the city centre.
Doherty said that the public consultation carried out by DCC had been insufficient.
“I fundamentally disagree with her. But that’s politics. You’re allowed to disagree. It’s the people that matter, it’s what they think,” Ryan said today in response to Doherty’s outlandish remarks.
He agreed that talking down to people is not the best way to effect change in climate policy, adding that transitioning to greener policies won’t work if it is “top down, telling people what to do, wagging the finger, blaming people”.
“This has to be asking people for help and come from the bottom up as well.”
Responding to the accusation of arrogance on the part of Green politicians, Ryan said:
“There’s no arrogance in the approach that we’re taking to climate. It’s the exact opposite. It’s actually trying to build consensus, build political consensus.”
He said all parties have a role to play in that respect.
“Now I differ fundamentally with Regina Doherty on the vision of the city. I don’t believe Dublin is going to work for Dubliners if it’s clogged with traffic, if it’s not safe to cycle and to walk, if you don’t have a functional public transport system.”
“I think we need to change the city for the better by switching to these sustainable alternatives, which is good for climate but also good for social justice, good for health, good for the economy, because the city doesn’t work when it’s gridlocked.
He said he hopes people vote on Friday for “strong climate action”.
“They do have a choice. The European election is all about this, will the EPP (European People’s Party) and Fine Gael, will they go with the right in stopping the Green Deal?
“There’s every sign that they might well do. The future of our climate response is at stake in this election,” Ryan said.
Green MEP Ciarán Cuffe said during a debate on RTÉ last night that Doherty’s comments were “something you might hear at the far end of a pub at closing time”.
Cuffe said Doherty and Fine Gael were “living in the past”.
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Aldi is showing the way forward. Lidl as well.
Was in Dunnes in Swords this morning! The special offers are few and far between! Prices are definitely creeping up again! And to top it all off, there’s hardly anyone working in it! Can’t wait for the new Lidl store to open!
It’s not surprising, a couple of years ago I was getting a decent weekly shop for €30-€40 now I am paying more like €60 a week. I like to shop around to ensure that Irish businesses get my money but I am beginning to think I should just stick with Lidl or Aldi.
Lisa, if you want to help the economy you should shop for the best deal for you and your family. Ths will force reailers to try and attract your business by reducing prices and maintaining or improving quality.
Lower prices will enable consumers to spread their into other sectors.
Ben while that is true, Tesco is known for forcing farmers to sell their produce at a crazy low price.
While one could suggest why don’t they sell to the highest bidder. Tesco et al dictate price and if the farmer doesn’t sell at the price they have no one else to buy it.
How can a farmer make a profit on the likes of lettuce when it’s being sold for 25cent.
JFK said that Farming was the only industry where people have to buy supplies at consumer prices and sell the finished goods at wholesale prices.
Iceland food store is brilliantly fair cheap on everything.. Lidl is very reasonable too.. When it comes to loyalty I’m sorry but I can only afford the cheapest with all these damn taxes
A few years ago it was almost shameful to be shopping in lidldi now it’s cool to do so!
In Holland, you see Doctor’s stepping out of Lidl in to their Mercs. People off all classes shop there. Here there was the new money snobbery, there they just viewed it as getting food at a reasonable price. A smart thing to do. There is an awful lot of people here who regret the keeping up appearances bolloxology now.
I would say thought that people should try to buy Irish if at all possible, the profits stay here, and they come back to you in wages, services jobs etc. A Euro spent on local produce is worth 2 to the economy.
Excellent point Fagan. I lived in Aus for a year and they really pushed buying Aussie goods.
We should try do the same.
Eddie Hobbs has us all believing everything Irish is a rip off. Having been to Aus and Finland among other countries I can honestly say Ireland Is not a rip off.
It will never be cool.
Agreed a few years ago there were so many people going around as though their $h1t did not stink and would not be seen near a lidl or aldi store, now times are different and reality bites, these large stores do offer good value but not on everything, people should learn to mix n match between local stores and the big multiples and spread their spend around, here in mainland europe small food retailers work alongside larger multiples and offer good value service & quality produce its a win win in relation to the customer, back to basics is the way forward
Try to shop local as much as I can, hate to see so much money leaving the country especially making the German economy stronger and ours getting weaker by the day, just my point of view
I agree. I try and shop in Dunnes as much as possible and I like the fact Dunnes tell you how many Irish goods you buy on their receipt.
where I live there is a Lidl, Supervalu, Tesco, Dunnes, Iceland & Aldi prob inside a square mile. Out of all of them it is Aldi for me. One of the reasons I shop in Aldi is the amount of Irish food, all most all their meat is from quality assured Irish farms, the crisp isle is mostly all Snackrite, which is made by Largo food (Tayto). loads of bread there is Irish, and actually nice unlike Lidl bread (not taking about their bakery) Heaps of Taste awards, and Blas na Eireann awards. really good quality Irish foods at great prices, specially selected sausages taste like superquinn ones. The say they try to stock as much Irish fruit n veg as they can, milk cheese yogurt eggs all Irish the mark all their Irish products with the tri-colour so its very easy to do a completely Irish shop. (I don’t work for Aldi :) )
The decline is due to the increase in cost.
Guys and girls. Prices are going to rise a lot more .
Oil is up. Our food is grown in petro chemicals ,transported in trucks and wrapped in plastics .
On top of that there is increased demand for food worldwide.
Tesco et al will not be able to hide price increases for too long and I have to agree with the above comments. I think the special offers are getting scarce. Especially for actual items you would use.
Not to sound like a broken record here but banks and hedgefunds have a huge part to blame in rising food prices. Morally and ethically wrong to be speculating on food prices but hey whats new.
It’s very morally wrong.
I work in a small fruit and veg shop…probably the only one around for miles because most have closed their doors, each morning we’re at the market, buying the freshest produce so customers are guaranteed high quality food, when in season, we get loads of produce from local growers. The big supermarkets have a few items cheaper, but on the whole, I’d say we’re cheaper in the long run. And everything is totally fresh, unlike supermarket stuff which is in cold storage for weeks. Support your locality, best for everyone.
My husband was made redundant from a wonderful supplier in fruit markets dublin, it was so sad to see a family business close after 60 odd years:-( i hope your fruit and veg shop sees the tough times through! :-)
One would not wonder why people are staying away they are going the same way as the publicans for years when trade fell back they increased their prices to make up for the loss of trade , now I have noticed the supermarkets are increasing prices, a rise of about 16 percent on a lot of items over the last 6 months, I for one leave it on the shelf and when it does not sell it is reduced for a few days to try and get rid of old stock, then is the time to buy, they should know that the customers are on a tight budget this day and age. as we are been robbed left right and centre by the government of the day.
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