It was chilly enough in Sandycove yesterday. There were a few brave souls in the water, but I stuck to the rock-pooling.
The weather's been a bit like the economy, turning the corner, but not quite there yet. Still, I'm optimistic about the months ahead: we're due a decent Summer, and figures are indicating a recovery in the economy as well.
I'm writing this from the train, on my way back up from a meeting of Forás Orgánach in Co. Offaly. I've finally worked out how do this tethering thing between my laptop and an iphone.
The meeting was held at the Department of Finance offices, decentralised a few years ago to Tullamore. I'm not convinced of the merits of decentralisation, especially when it is linked to building offices in out-of-town locations. The building is located in an office park, and although it seemed well-built, there was only one bike visible in a sea of surface car-parking. You can't detach proper planning from building in the right location in the first instance, and while the building standards may be high, it doesn't seem right to place such buildings a mile out the road from the town, where people are more inclined to drive, rather than walk, cycle or use public transport. On the same issue I was glad to see Bertie Ahern having a re-think on decentralisation in yesterday's Sunday Tribune. I'd have thought that one of the first aspects of decentralisation should have been a state-of-the-art video-conferencing suite in every decentralised office, but I suspect that if they do exist they're not being used to full capacity. I can only imagine that mileage claims have increased as a result of Charlie McCreevy's flawed decision.
Still, the meeting went well, and we had a good discussion of the draft plan from the Forás Orgánach Partnership Market Development Group. In my contribution at the start of the meeting I mentioned a report from the United Nations Environment Programme on 'Organic Agriculture and Food Security in Africa'. The report suggests that organic farming can feed Africa, and all the cases studied showed increases in per hectare productivity of food crops, challenging the myth that organic agriculture cannot increase agricultural productivity. Meanwhile the European Union has a new organic logo that comes into force at the start of July. It depicts a leaf outlined by European stars and is accompanied by the words- "organic farming good for nature, good for you" and should increase awareness of organics within the European Union.
Meanwhile I'm launching William Campbell's new book on Thursday 13th May 2010. "Here's How" is both provocative and challenging - packed with ideas for how to transform Ireland to meet the challenges ahead. It concentrates on the need for reform at all levels on how the State operates and is a thumping good read.
The Green Economy is turning out to be a huge part of how we turn Ireland around. Green goods and services are estimated to be worth €2.8bn to the Irish economy every year and this figure is growing rapidly. We're helping to organise a conference on Friday and Saturday 21st and 22nd May 2010 in the Croke Park Exhibition Centre. A keynote speech will be given by Gabriel D'Arcy, CEO, Bord na Móna entitled "A New Contract With Nature – the Green Economy in Action." I'll be adding my tuppence ha'penny worth as well on the issues of agriculture and planning.
Details of the conference are on the www.GreenEconomy.ie website.
Good to see reports in today's Irish Times that the Taoiseach has appointed Prof. Peter Clinch as a special advisor. He has a BA and MA degrees in economics and a PhD in environmental economics as well as a Diploma in environmental impact assessment.
What better man for the job at this point in time than someone who holds the Jean Monnet Professor of European Environmental Policy! Jean Monnet was the architect of European unity, but I'd imagine that Peter will be dealing with issues closer to home than picking up the pieces from the Referendum.
Peter is 'an outspoken critic of decentralisation' according to the Irish Times, and if that is true, I'd tend to be of a like mind. Two years ago I stated that decentralisation threatened the National Spatial Strategy, and I also suspected that pork was being doled out from the barrel. Devolving power to a proper system of regional governance would be great, but shifting jobs around can be counter-productive, particularly when the need for senior officials to meet face to face may result in mileage claims hitting stratospheric levels.
What annoys me most about the decentralisation programme isn't the 110% parking requirements for new government offices, or the so-called sustainable offices at Ireland West Airport Knock, or the way McCreevy slipped it into a budget speech, but the lack of any enthusiasm for cities having a place in Ireland's future. In my mind cities are the powerhouse for Ireland in the twenty-first century.
Back when I was at school, our geography book -'The World' by Sir Dudley Stamp highlighted Dublin for its production of beer and biscuits. Even then that sounded dated. Since then Dublin has played a crucial role in the development of Ireland's economy. It would be foolish not to ensure that cities like Dublin, Cork and Galway benefit strongly from government planning policies, and not just the Gateway Cities initiative. Since decentralisation was announced, I've been to packed-out meetings of angry Bord Iascaigh Maire staff who don't want leave Dún Laoghaire for Clonakilty, and architectural staff from the OPW who aren't impressed with plans to move them to Cork, Meath and Mayo. As the Trim Co. Meath information from the OPW puts it - "There is no active rail link between Dublin and Trim at this time." For BIM, the quote in the info pack about Clonakilty must have rubbed salt in their wounds: -"A place of choice for the many and home to the lucky few". I can understand why DIG the Decentralisation Implementation Group (awful acronym) stated last year that "some elements are continuing to prove challenging, especially those relating to the State Agency sector."
Minister Éamon Ó Cuív appears to be no great fan of urban life, and in his speech two days ago to the Rural Development Forum in Charleville in Cork, he quoted Professor Seamus Caulfield, "…'Perhaps the most unsustainable thing about rural housing is the case that is made against it.' " He also states that "rural residents expend less energy and produce fewer carbon dioxide emissions than their urban counterparts." Harry Magee cites Clinch as stating that greenhouse gas emissions reductions are one of the government's biggest challenges, and that Mr Cowen is very committed to making decisions based on sound evidence and research. Somehow I don't think that if we all head off to the dispersed village or baile fearann it will reduce emissions, unless we're all growing our own, and not driving anywhere, an unlikely prospect for the foreseeable future.
Some number-crunching is clearly required to produce clear figures for urban and rural commuting times and CO2 emissions, and maybe that'll come under Prof. Clinch's job spec. Government clearly has a role to play in ensuring that citizens are encouraged to make the choices that are best for the environment.
There can be a thriving future for rural Ireland, but in my mind employment growth lies in areas such as agricultural diversification, forestry, properly resourced and marketed farm tourism, and vibrant towns and villages creating jobs and providing services. It's a bleak future were it to rely unduly on the back of jobs reliant on long distance car commuting to distant towns, agricultural subsidies, or the construction of one-off housing. There is a touch of irony to Ó Cuív's contention that pressure is "forcing rural people to move to towns and cities" when the reality of decentralisation for urban dwellers is the exact opposite. In my mind it shouldn't have to be an 'us versus them' debate, and with the right policies in place both urban and rural areas can thrive.
Clinch is also the co-author of 'After the Celtic Tiger',published back in 2002, and well worth a read, 'as the building boom is coming to a shuddering end'. It wasn't the Greens what talked down the economy, it was the Fianna Fáil Minister for Finance! in fairness, I'm taking Brian Lenihan's quote out of context, and he did correct his quote to suggest that only the housing sector was suffering.
I wouldn't be downbeat, and from our perspective, I'd be talking up the new green economy. There's going to be more sunrise than sunset industries over the next few years, and a lot of green collar jobs will come our way if we play our cards right. To do that though we need to rethink decentralisation, and put cities, and improving the quality of urban life at the heart of Ireland's future.
It was chilly enough in Sandycove yesterday. There were a few brave souls in the water, but I stuck to the rock-pooling.
