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THE WHOLE ROOM laughed. The politicians and senior civil servants, as well as the business leaders and environmental NGO staff.
It was almost 10 years ago and I had just remarked that Ireland had only managed to meet our 2010 climate pollution targets, at the last minute – by crashing the economy.
I said we had better take decisions now on how to meet our 2020 targets because the one thing we could all agree on was that we didn’t want to have to crash the economy again in 2019.
And yet here we are again.
We agreed to reduce our emissions by 20%, but according to the latest projections from the Environmental Protection Agency, at best, Irish emissions in 2020 will be 1% lower than they were in 2005.
We have a mountain to climb, especially as we’ve now agreed a 30% reduction target for 2030.
Can we finally step up and make the decisions to put Ireland on the path to cutting our pollution?
We have a Minister for Climate Action, in Richard Bruton TD, who talks like a man who takes the threat of climate change seriously and is determined to act. But we had that 10 years ago too and it didn’t translate into action.
What’s different this time?
For a start, our international reputation has taken a beating on the issue of climate change.
In 2017, the Climate Change Performance Index ranked Ireland as the worst country in the EU on climate action. That stung. In 2018, two more studies had us second worst after Poland, and the Taoiseach admitted to the European Parliament that Ireland was a “laggard” and that he wasn’t proud of our record.
With the government looking for votes from countries around the world to be elected to the UN Security Council next year, climate laggard is not a good look.
Since then the science has got even starker and scientists have grown more direct in their calls for action. The most recent scientific assessment for the UN declared that meeting the temperature goals of the Paris Agreement will “require rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society”.
Sea levels are not the only thing rising. Young people get that their future is at stake and there is a wave of youth activism on climate change.
I saw it first in the successful campaigns for our universities to pull their investments out of fossil fuels. Since then, it has spilled out into the campaign for the state to pull its foreign investments out of fossil fuels, which saw the Fossil Fuel Divestment Bill become law before Christmas.
Now we are seeing a campaign to ban offshore drilling and the importation of fracked gas from the US. And a growing number of school strikes by pupils inspired by Greta Thunberg in Norway.
The biggest thing that’s changed in the last 10 years is, unfortunately, the climate. We’re seeing what the future looks like with the increasing trend of extreme weather events, from storms to floods to droughts.
Public opinion is changing too. Politicians are telling us that for the first time, climate change is being mentioned on the doorsteps.
The Eurobarometer survey shows that 95% of Irish people want the government to set higher targets for wind and solar power.
Citizens Assembly
The most in-depth test of public opinion was the landmark Citizens’ Assembly process on climate change.
After considering 1,200 submissions, hearing from independent experts, weighing the evidence, and deliberating carefully, the citizens’ voted overwhelmingly for practical but far-reaching proposals for government-led action.
As on other issues, the exercise demonstrated that the public is ahead of the politicians on this.
The Citizens’ Assembly has given the Minister a clear mandate to act. Like the Citizens’ Assembly on the Eighth Amendment, a special all-party committee is now considering the recommendations.
All the signs are that the committee is taking its work seriously and is likely to echo and amplify the citizens’ call to action when it publishes its report in the coming weeks.
Now it’s over to Minister Bruton. He’s promised a new ‘all-of-government’ climate action plan before Easter.
No Irish climate minister this century has had a better opportunity to bring forward policies and measures that would actually cut Irish emissions. For once, the balance of forces is tilted towards action.
A Green New Deal
To help him, we’ve looked at the Citizens’ Assembly proposals and packaged them as a 12-step programme to quit fossil fuels for good.
A Green New Deal, for a just transition to a zero carbon future. It’s challenging. It requires consistent leadership and investment.
Some of the ideas we are proposing include an SSIA-style scheme to help people save for insulation upgrades on their homes. We urgently need to stop burning peat for electricity. Changes like that shouldn’t leave people jobless though so we need a special task force to source new employment for people whose jobs are in non-sustainable power.
The good news is that if government carried out these changes, they would mean warmer homes that are cheaper to run, community-owned renewable electricity, more public transport with lower fares and safer options for cycling and walking, improved mechanisms for political transparency and accountability, and an annual cheque in the post to help with the costs of transition.
We have delayed climate action long enough. Every day we delay increases the suffering climate change is already causing.
We can do it without crashing the economy. And the consequences of not doing it are no laughing matter. So let’s get on with it.
Oisin Coghlan is Director of Friends of the Earth. You can see more about their 12-step programme to quit fossil fuels at www.foe.ie.
To all the avid no campaigners on the journal, a very big and very assured F*** YOU.
For months I have endured your abuse, I’ve been called every name you can imagine, from paedophile to Nazi, freak of nature to child stealer. My mental health has taken a battering as I sought to expose the hypocrisy and bigotry of the very lowest participants of this forum. From one particular commenter that repeatedly told me I had a mental illness to another who told me to go to coppers and get the ride as though that would fix me.
I don’t hate you though, I pity you. You live lives full of anger, hatred, confusion and utter bitterness. I wish you were happier people.
So to Paul Roche, Tom Doyle, Tony Kilduff, Top Cat and his many aliases, Paddy Scully, Ugly Truth, David Fitzpatrick, confused Zoe, Gerard Devaney, Gary, David Doyle, and many more who campaigned to oppress me, to silence me, and all the while abused me and tested my resolve, today is MY day. Today is OUR day. I hope you all reflect on the battering you have given me and how you all very nearly broke me.
I am not broken, I will be equal!
Ailbhe O’Nolan (hopefully finally equal)
Well done if you win, but l think you may be a paranoid nutter.
Ailbhe posts about being called names and then you call her a paranoid nutter. Awesome logic, right wing. Maybe she has a point.
Holy crap girl, if you’re taking every thing that commenters in here say to heart then I think you’re prob as well staying away from the journal. If a few nasty comments on here nearly broke you as you say then how do you cope with the stresses of real life situations?
It’s not compulsory to press the big J icon on your phone.
If you can’t handle the Heat get out of the kitchen
And thank you for proving my point! Love you all. You’re brio cute
Al, I cope perfectly well thanks. Better than most in fact. And this has been the most ‘real life situation’ one can find, where a nation debates your worth and smears your character. I coped and have come out the other side stronger.
Love to all of you, desbite what you have shown to me. Now off to town!
It will be your day Ailbhe.
Ireland will do us proud today, I just know it
Ailbhe, I have witnessed what you had to endure, the expression of slurs, contempt and hate against you for having had the bravery to stand up and to say why you and all gay peole in Ireland deserve full legal equality.
I was appalled by the utter venom and the scurrility of the remarks made against you and other gay peole. I was shocked that many of these homophobic remarks were left up even though some were not merely hateful. They were an incitement to hatred.
You have been articulate, brave and rational. You managed to persuade a few No supporters to the side of yes and you motivated many such as me by your passion and by your strength.
Ailbhe, my total respect. Today is your day. The gay community, part of our society, should not have had to earn what is theirs’ by right and justice. But you earned it many times over.
Total respect, huge admiration and looking forward to the great joy of this afternoon’s victory.
Sums up a lot of this referendum …’F**k you’ to ‘avid campaigners’ on the opposite side…your words. There was so much positivity that emerged from this regerendum – a real feel good factor that we are on the brink of change in our country. So people disagreed with you…get over it and don’t drop down a level. Keep your own dignity.
Groovus, let me clarify. Not a f*** you to all no campaigners. A f*** you to those that verbally abused me, made personal attacks against me and even went on to attack me via private message because their incideous remarks would not be tolerated by the journal.
If all I give them is a F*** you, that pales in comparison to what they said to me. I will leave them with that and hope they think again before spouting such abuse.
Wow , your really Come across as a right b1tch who expects equality but doesn’t give it.
Kind wish I could change my vote now
Ailbhe named some of the culprits. In fact, I was amazed by Ailbhe’s patience and politeness towards the non abusuve no supporters.
I can’t figure out the hostility towards Ailbhe. Perhaps, it is because Ailbhe was one of the main, if not the main, advocate on the Journal for marriage equality and was therefore targeted by some highly emotionally disturbed individuals, some of whom have been named above by Ailbhe.
I suspect some of these Twitter and Facebook identities will disappear.
Lots of love Brian. You clearly didn’t see what I was subject to. But now all I feel is love! Have a great day. Here’s to a better Ireland!
Brian, you have missed Ailbhe’s point.
And shur, what’s one more bit of abuse from random strangers, for old times sake eh Brian ;)
Thanks Anthony. Let them attack me. Let them abuse me. They only prove my point or miss it entirely. I’ve risen above all that. I hope I shed tears of joy today. Thanks for everything.
Alibhe your the one who came on here abusing people. I just pointed out , how you were coming across .
remember there is Dignity in defeat, and dignity in victory.
Always be the better person and don’t stoop to the level of gutter rats.
Ailbhe just named a few of the more abusive and obnoxious culprits, as she was entitled to do. Personally speaking, I hope that this is a totally joyful day for Ailbhe. She has worked so hard and given so much. She is exhausted. This afternoon will be about joyful celebration.
Ailbhe, I’ll be at the RDS count today, maybe I’ll see u there? Here we go folks
Fair enough Ailbhe, your first sentence threw me. If you put your opinions out there on a site like this you will always attract different responses and some will be distasteful; but that’s the freedom we embrace. Everyone is EQUAL to an opinion. If you think you are the subject of abuse as you say, then you should be more annoyed with the moderator of this site!!
So happy, cried with happiness multiple times. Going for a beer soon. Thank you all!
How is it going to work? Will the 27 centres be announced individually or will it be one big announcement in Dublin? Any estimates on what time?
Following this from Melbourne hoping for a massive yes
Final overall result should be known by 3.00 PM Irish time, GMT. The results will trickle in before then. thankfully, it looks like a Yes vote by a clean margin.
The No side will then likely start on their legal challenge to the democratic result. That’s what they do.
I hope they don’t, Anthony. My estimation of the ‘no’ side has been shot to sh*t over the past few months but I’d have hoped they’d at least respect the will of the people enough to accept the outcome of their referendum, even if it’s not the outcome they would have hoped for.
It’s basically going to work like the Eurovision – Panti and Ursula Halligan will present the event at the big screen in Dublin Castle and a local celebrity will phone in the result from each of the 27 centres. For example, Daniel O’Donnell will call in the “huit points” from Donegal while Marian Keyes will joyfully deliver “douze points” from Dun Laoghaire. Technical specialists are currently working to create an artificial time delay on the video link so that audiences can enjoy the same level of stilted awkwardness we have come to expect from the flamboyant song contest.
Before any count takes places the question has to be asked how so many people who are clearly not living in the country were allowed to vote. This has being a problem for years but this referendum has highlighted the issue. I also seen on facebook last night where a girl said she had voted in Dublin and was headed to her home town in wexford where she also on the register to vote again. There is something very wrong here that goes to the heart of our democracy.
And you asked the question you feel should be asked well done. Any chance you might actually do something about it other than complain? If you think it has resulted in an unfair result there are lots of friendly people in the Law Library who will be only too happy to agree with you …….for a price.
The problem for the no challengers is that they would have to prove that it would have been a no victory had it not been for these few votes. Facebook messages are not proof of actual voting.
By the way, I’m very happy that some of our emigrants returned to vote yes. Respect and thanks to them.
Larry. Democracy shouldn’t come at a price. I remember when George w was made president by the supreme court in 2000. Is this the idea your suggesting?
I’m suggesting we count the votes that were cast and accept the result like adults.
Larry, well said. That’s democracy.
So if I live abroad for a few years I’m not entitled to have a say in my home countries constitution. A lot of these people were forced abroad for work and hopefully will come home some day. The problem is not that they came home but that they had to. If u are a citizen u should be entitled to vote abroad through the Irish embassy.
Or maybe you’ll not return but you’d be entitled to decide how the people who stayed and paid the high taxes should live. A relative of mine found us when she came to find her roots. Her grandmother left Ireland during the 1940′s. She claims to be Irish. Do you think she entitled to vote in an irish embassy.
Donna, I totally agree.
The problem is the wrong that our emigrants would bring a more progressive, expansive and enlightened view into Irish politics. Travel, especially working abroad, broadens the mind, opens the perspective. Then add to that that it is over our most get up and go people who get up and go.
Our politicians would not be able to handle this.
It is fantastic the way that those emigrants who could get back did so and we’re still registered to vote.
My preference would be remote online voting from abroad subject to verification of identity. I think that emigrants have a huge amount of real value to contribute.
Well in the some countries they allow citizens to vote up to a certain point. So 15 years for example. Something like that would be fair.
If you live abroad for a few years then yes you’re not entitled to vote. Why should you have a say in running a country that you don’t live in? Why should someone permanently resident in Ireland, paying taxes and abiding by Irish law care what someone thousands of miles think? Why should a person who emigrated (forgetting about their reason for emigrating) have the same voice as a permanent resident of this country?
‘referenda’…..not referendums!
Both are correct – you flippin idiot!
You can use either http://www.dailyedge.ie/lets-figure-this-out-whats-the-real-plural-of-referendum-261522-Oct2013/
Since, I’m living in modern Ireland and not in the ancient Roman Empire and because I speak English, not Latin, I will opt for Referendums, that is if Skippy does not mind.
If its Yes (as seems likely) – where does this leave the Catholic Church who are/were against the same-sex concept?
Will they marry their members in their churches?
Very unlikely I’d say
The Referendum was on civil marriage. It has no impact on Church weddings. The Roman Catholic Church is legally entitled to continue pursue its policy of discrimination against gay people.
Thank you AL.
A likely outcome is for the Catholic Church to agree to ‘bless’ the marriages – subject to conditions!
Bill Rooney, I would like to think that you are right but only some Priests may do so, if at all and then unofficially.
Roman Catholic dogma remains strongly anti homosexual relationships.
They wont be forced to because Article 44 protects the independence of religious organisations. However I think the RCC in time would do well to reflect a changing world and change its teachings on homosexuality.
They won’t have to. I think there’s legislation which allows places of worship to refuse on, can’t think of a better way to put this, religious grounds.
Id say it will go through. But I will be very interested to see whether my county votes yes or no. It is 62% rural but only voted against divorce 51.5% so perhaps our rural folk are not as conservative as in other counties. I’ll be sure to avoid counties that demonstrate a strident position against LGBT rights – unless of course it includes my own as I can’t afford to move.
Many rural areas may surprise you. Likely, there will be a higher Yes vote in some urban areas but there will be a large Yes vote in many rural areas.
I want to express my admiration and regard for the activist yes campaigners. The yes campaign, except for the politicians, was wonderful.
Today’s successful outcome was grass roots in a real sense, a people’s movement and politicians merely provided the opportunity for us to have the two Referendums.
If you believe in equal rights then don’t put countries on a blacklist. Network, lead by example, change opinions and hopefully you’ll see grassroots changes take place within them. Alienating only leads to misunderstanding.
have your say