Aontú leader, Peadar Tóibín, has said that the Green Party are the “architects of their own downfall” and that the “stick” the party had used to change behaviour was “now whipping them”.
The Meath West TD said that: “On a personal level I want to wish Eamon Ryan and his family the very best in his retirement, politics is a difficult career and anyone who follows such a path is to be commended. On a personal level Eamon is a gentleman and I think that should be recognized”.
“The results of the Local and European Elections in recent weeks shows that the Greens have lost significant support from the people of this country. In response to their drubbing some of the Green Party spokespeople have responded in the vein of “the people have spoken, the bastards!”,” he said.
“But the truth is the Greens are the architects of their own downfall,” he continued. “The Greens have three major problems. The tool used most by the Greens to change people’s behaviour has been the stick. They failed miserably to deliver on infrastructural projects that could make a real difference to people’s lives and our climate. And there are glaring contradictions in policy which break down the trust of citizens”.
“The Green party have relied heavily on sticks to change behavior. Last year the government collected €3.5 billion on fuel taxes. This was the highest figure in 10 years despite the fact that it was the worst year of the Cost of Living Crisis. The same year when energy prices were sky rocketing, the Greens started restricting the use of turf. Farmers have been hit with restriction after restriction on production while nothing has been done to protect their incomes. Hard pressed drivers, many with no alternatives are being hit with increased fuel costs, tolls and potential closures of roads through towns and cities.Supports are being pulled from electric cars leading to a collapse in sales”.
“There has been only 7 off shore wind turbines built for the last 20 years.We were the last country in Europe to introduce a feed in tariff for micro generated electricity. Retrofitting of homes is painfully slow. Bus services are constantly late or missing. Rail projects including Metro North, the Navan to Dublin rail line and the Western Rail Corridor are glacial in their deliver. 85% of all accommodation asylum seekers in located in, is from the hospitality sector with a full third of all hotels outside Dublin now contracted by the state. Minister Roderic O’Gorman bought 30 buildings to house asylum seekers 2 years ago and only one of them are in use. Dozens of children are going missing from unregulated TUSLA residential accommodation every month with some being preyed upon by criminal gangs for sexual exploitation,” the Aontú leader added.
“Contradictions abound under the Greens. Data centres are swallowing up ever more energy. Aviation fuel has no VAT. Turf fueled power stations are being replaced with diesel fueled power stations. Peat is being imported from Latvia and the Netherlands at a significant environmental cost. Beef is being imported to Europe from Brazil at a significant environmental cost. This contradictions undermine the Green’s credibility when it comes to environmental policies that are hurting families. If the Greens need to blame some one for their poor showing they need only look in the mirror,” he said.
This week, Green Party leader Eamon Ryan resigned as party leader, just over a week after the party lost more than half its seats in the local elections and both its MEPs in Europe.