Environment and Sustainability

Posted on February 27, 2010 at 06:45 PM

Eamon Gilmore TD
Deputy Eamon Gilmore speaking at the Labour Party Forum on Environment and Sustainability chaired by Deputy Joanna Tuffy

Labour held a Forum on Friday in the Mansion House with Environmental Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) on the theme 'Planning for a Sustainable Future'. The NGO presentations were coordinated by the Environment Pillar and included presentations on planning, biodiversity, forestry and heritage.

Michael Ewing the Coordinator of the Environment Pillar gave a presentation about the work of the Environment Pillar. Tom Roche spoke about the work of Just Forests in promoting the need for a more sustainable policy for forestry in Ireland. The need to protect Wetlands and their importance in flood water attenuation was explained to the meeting by Anja Murray the Environmental Officer with An Taisce.

David Korowitz from Feasta gave a talk on the need to have informed policies on how to deal with the issue of Peak Oil, and James Nix spoke about the need for sustainable land use policies that included high density in areas with good public transport links.

The event was chaired by Bronwen Maher, Co Chair of Labour's Environment and Sustainability Policy Group. I spoke on behalf of the Labour Party as our Environment Spokesperson and Senator Dominic Hannigan spoke about issues of concern to those living in Commuter Belts.

We also had a presentation from Dr. Muireann Ni Bhrolchain, who lectures in NUI Maynooth, about the importance of preserving our heritage and landscape. Labour Leader Eamon Gilmore also addressed the meeting and there was a lively debate before the forum closed.

Thank you to all who participated in this event. We intend today's Environment and Sustainability NGO Forum to be the start of a process of engagement between the Labour Party and environmental groups that will help inform our policies.

by Deputy Joanna Tuffy

Labour Party Spokesperson on Environment and Heritage

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