Thoughts from the Canvass

At most doors the focus is on employment. I'm pleased that Labour are with us on the importance of green jobs.

A lot of the new jobs ARE green jobs, in renewable energy, and in areas like the Warmer Homes scheme. There’s thousands of contractors registered under the Home Energy Savings Scheme, that’s a lot of jobs, not to mention renewable energy. One of the most interesting of encounters so far was last week. It was one of those stormy afternoons, when people open the door and hold on to it with their two hands to stop it from slamming with the wind. She was elderly, about five foot nothing, and was delighted to have a candidate at the door in Silchester Park in Dún Laoghaire.

I like it when people have a list, and hers was impressive. She put on her glasses and ran through it.


Why can't they defer these Ministerial Pensions under they're 65.
They should, I'm in agreement with deferring it until Ministers retire.

What about fully vouched expenses?
I agree. Mine are online and I have the full list of receipts to back it up.

Could you not reduce the amount of TDs and councillors?
You're right, we'd like to bring it down to 120 TDs, and half of them should come from a list system, where you can be sure that you're selecting legislators.

Honesty and transparency?
Well, I think you have to judge that for yourself. We've made mistakes, and maybe with hindsight we'd have done things differently.

And your Vision of Ireland?
That was one of those right between the eyes questions. It's what people really want to know, and have difficulty in asking you.


I agreed with her, we discussed the loss of that sense of community, of meitheal during the boom years. Community spirit is the glue that holds us together, and there's an opportunity to rediscover that, during difficult times. My vision? I guess it's one that involves a steady-state economy, and I guess I've seen glimpses of it in Italy and in communities on the Northern coast of Spain. It's in the writings of Michael Viney, Herman Daly and Jane Jacobs, and In organisations like Seedsavers. However it's also there in smart new media firms like Salesforce, in buildings like the Media Cube in Dún Laoghaire, and in international companies that have put down roots in Ireland and generated exports. It's about making the most of the old, and the new, about passing on the environment in a fit and healthy state, and in ensuring that the glue that holds communities together stays strong.

It's a difficult concept to pin down, and a time of economic distress hugely challenging to discuss in the frenzy of electioneering, but a Vision of Ireland is what so many people are seeking, in Spring 2011.

And they're off

It's all about the finish line.

That pic shows one of the UpStart crews getting ready for postering on Merrion Square this evening. I like their ideas about using creative election posters to spark a debate about creativity and the value of arts in public life.

It's also all about jobs. Many of the new jobs created in last few years have stemmed from the green policies that we've introduced in Government, and we can further if we're returned to the next Dáil.

I'm told that over 6,000 contractors have registered with the Home Energy Savings Scheme. That's real jobs, right now. Much of the money taken in in the carbon levy goes right back the people through grant aid and direct support for upgrading social housing.

It makes perfect sense to do this - to tackle climate change and to reduce our dependency on the €6 Billion of oil and gas that we import every year, particularly when oil has touched $100 a barrel again. Sure, that price goes up and down, but the direction has been upward, and the more we can wean ourselves off fossil fuels, the better.

Renewable energy is another plank of the green jobs strategy. It's about more than wind, it's about ocean energy: waves, tides and currents. It's about willow and other forestry crops that can provide fuels, and an income for farmers. It's about retrofitting office-blocks, homes and schools to cut down on energy use and create jobs in doing so. Energy efficiency and insulation is at the core of all this.

It's about the digital revolution - jobs in cloud computing, and in start-ups like the Media Cube on the campus of Dún Laoghaire's Institute of Art Design and Technology. You can see it in the presence of new media firms in Ireland like Facebook, and in new initiatives in cloud computing like the work of Salesforce over in Sandyford Business Park.

It's about design - Encouraging innovation and good design can spawn innovation, creativity and new employment. That's what happened when the Kilkenny Design Workshops were set up in the 1960's. Design has contributed to Denmark's economy and identity for over a century, and it's something we should be mainstreaming as part of our economic revival. There's signs of this happening through the Government Policy on Architecture and through Dublin's bid for World Design Capital 2014. I'm also enthused by groups like Upstart that are promoting creativity through their innovative posters that we'll be seeing more of over the next few weeks. I bumped into them at Merrion Square this afternoon and they're full of ideas. Arts, culture, design and creativity are all interlinked, and my hunch is that they've a lot to offer to Ireland's recovery.

Meanwhile back in the Dáil it was a whirlwind of a day. The Taoiseach gave a speech that was suprisingly statesmanlike, and quoted some great lines from the Poet John O’Donohue that are worth repeating:

"May you be hospitable to criticism. May you never put yourself at the centre of things. May you act not from arrogance but out of service. May you work on yourself, Building up and refining the ways of your mind. May those who work for you know you see and respect them. May you learn to cultivate the art of presence In order to engage with those who meet you… May you have a mind that loves frontiers so that you can evoke the bright fields that lie beyond the view of the regular eye. May you have good friends to mirror your blind spots."

It's good advice to anyone who aspires to public life.

Enda's speech lacked gravitas, and while at pains to respect Cowen's family, failed to rise beyond the usual point-scoring. Gilmore spoke about one Ireland with some well-written words. John Gormley made a strong plea for electoral form and looked towards a reduction in the number of TDs with half being elected from a list system, which seems to work well in the New Zealand system.

After a quick coffee with Senator Mark Dearey I headed out the Rock Road to Blackrock and on towards Dún Laoghaire, getting used to a new ladder and stopping to climb a few lamp-posts, posters in hand and cable-ties between my teeth. I grabbed a slice of pizza in the office, met some of our poster crews, and headed off for a few hours canvassing, some more postering and then back home to write this.

These are busy times. Let's pace ourselves between now and the 25th February.

Moving on

It was one of the strangest of days that I've had in my time in Leinster House.

Paul Gogarty's appearance on Morning Ireland this morning summed up how we all felt, and his own blog post clearly expressed the frustrations of the last twenty-four hours. There were lengthy discussions of our Parliamentary Party, and an intense media frenzy. Senator Mark Dearey's iphone app of the Irish Constitution got put to good use!

As I walked out the main gate on Kildare Street an RTÉ cameraman fell over backwards, and then another went down. As I crossed the street yet another cameraman was about to walk backwards into a utility pole and I had to grab his arm to prevent another accident. I met the RTÉ guy later on Merrion Street, and thankfully he was OK, although a bit bruised.

I thought our press conference in the Merrion late this afternoon went fine. We gave our account of events, and left it to Fianna Fáil to give theirs in another forum.

Quite a sense of relief to know that the date has now been set for the election. Friday 11 March is seven weeks away as I write, and it feels good to have a sense of closure in sight for the Green Party's time in Government.

The intervention of the IMF changed everything, and we said back in November that we'd leave once the difficult economic decisions were made. To date we've approved the Four Year Plan, concluded the deal with the IMF and EU and passed a tough budget. The one remaining item is to pass the Finance Bill, and we've said that we'll stay in to ensure that it is passed.

Sure, we'd love to pass important legislation on ending corporate donations to political parties, the Dublin Mayoralty Bill, and the Climate Change Response Bill, and if they can be approved within the time available I'd be over the moon, but I'm not holding my breath that all of this can be achieved. Communicating the importance of the Climate Change Bill has been difficult, and one of the many challenges of our time in Government. Hopefully we can continue on with the legislation during what promises to be a tumultuous Government term.

That pic? That's the view looking out on Government Buildings from beside my office. A frosty sunset on an eventful day.