Would you support a new Rural Political Party

Siamsa Sessions

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120578593#Comment_120578593

And de-populating rural areas flies in the face of what Brussels wants. They don't want everyone moving into cities and putting even more strain on energy, water, waste, transport, and other services. That's a recipe for uncertainty and unease in the general population, which is the last thing the EU wants. They want slow and steady development with no major potholes. They don't always get that but that's the aim.

Neither do they want vast tracks of the countryside turning into unpopulated wasteland. This is a bigger issue on mainland Europe than in Ireland. Again, this causes uncertainty - what might happen out there? Multinationals or local authorities dumping waste? Unstable plant or wild animal populations (e.g. knotweed or wolves)? The EU can't control this but that doesn't mean they don't have policies in place to try take the edge off any such developments. Their Rural Development Program, DG-Regio, etc. is all about keeping rural and under-developed regions ticking over.

My only point is that the urban-focussed political parties in Ireland (and they are all urban-focussed - left or right doesn't come into it in this respect) are running against the grain of what's happening in Europe. Any new "rural political party" would find common cause in Brussels and could easily out-flank the current parties when it comes to supporting rural regions.

Jonnyc135

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120578671#Comment_120578671

Exactly and Europe knows that a politically divided nation between rural and urban could have detrimental effects on the overall EU project. If policies come into play that cause resentment and huge divides in Ireland or any other EU country, who's to say they might be more countries pulling out of the EU like the UK.

I think that's why there is a total rethink and more than likely reversal over the Biodiversity/Nature restoration regulation etc in Europe at the minute. If that was passed into law in its current form the EU would have destroyed rural areas and come 2030 there would be huge anger, resentment and possible referendums regarding the EU project.

magicbastarder

They don't want everyone moving into cities and putting even more strain on energy, water, waste, transport, and other services.

surely cities makes provision of these services much easier?

Siamsa Sessions

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120578801#Comment_120578801

Yes they do. But it's not as simple as scaling up.

Cities have already sprawled out in recent decades so need constant investment and upgrading. Massive movements of people in short spaces of time (up to say, 10 years) mean investment can't keep up with changing needs. You're also increasing the complexity of delivering services - more points of failure, especially with everything moving online. And if something does fail in a city such as the ICT network running ATMs, it'll have a bigger impact than if the ATM system in the whole of Co. Waterford went down. So, you need bigger and more costly back-up systems for cities. That's only one simple example.

The "business case" for fibre broadband to run up every boreen in Ireland isn't there. I accept you can't have a hospital at every crossroads either, notwithstanding the Scrooge approach being taken by the current Govt when it comes to providing health services.

But it's all comes back to scale. Providing services doesn't follow a straight line graph when you start adding on zeros to the numbers.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120578197#Comment_120578197

Dismissing peoples legitimate concerns regarding national and super-national dictations as being triggered does deserve an apology.

Your fair minded nature has blindly proven the point I'm making. He's doing something - however late in the day his transformation on the road to the Dail occurred - voluntarily. Yet he is part of a group that wants outright control of what belongs to others to satisfy an agenda, a religion almost, as opposed to solving problems in concert with the people who own the land.

alps

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120579457#Comment_120579457

Rural Alliance will not happen.

By now there should be enough tinsel hat brigade arriving on the scene, hoping for this to be a vechicle to vent scepticism and far right and left wing views that the organisers original concepts will be hard to keep on track.

Castlekeeper

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120579258#Comment_120579258

My comment about people being triggered was a more general one, not directed at you specifically. If it hit a nerve, I'm sorry for you.

You wrote a simple post, promoting an anti GP agenda, and based on an attached article, accusing a man of hypocrisy. I disagreed and highlighted the relevant text.

Your subsequent railings about dictations and control seems like certain road users giving out about speed limits based on vehicle ownership.

Jonnyc135

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120579947#Comment_120579947

The control and dictations the Green Party and some in europe want to force on farmers will involve reducing their assets from 12,000 per acre to 0 per acre. I personally think there a huge difference between land ownership and car ownership. Would you like your assets to have a forced devaluation to being worthless?

The Green party are willing to back the Nature restoration law in its current form to the hilt, therefore emplying they have no problem with forced land devaluation and control of other peoples assets

Loafing Oaf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120579716#Comment_120579716

This is partly why I don't believe a full-fledged political party will emerge from the current conversations but I still think rural indepndents may go into the next election under some form of loose umbrella, mainly so they'll be in a position after the election to negotiate as a bloc about the formation of the next government, in a way they weren't this time round...

Lime Tree Farm

To Hell or to Dublin !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=em6bA0SxMUw

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120579947#Comment_120579947

I don't accept the Ivan Yates style non apology.

The post I wrote, for anyone paying attention to that particular article, issue, and TD outlines his hobby horse of criticising the arterial drainage act as bad, promoting various intrusive dictatorial laws and legislation as good but refuses to condemn recreational flying as bad. Hypocritical. No sooner will Mr Leddin be voted out than he'll be back in the cockpit.

Castlekeeper

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120580832#Comment_120580832

It's hard to accept what isn't offered. Unless I'm missing something, which is quite possible, your post which I replied to never mentioned arterial drainage, land designation or anything else other than Brian Leddin giving up flying and you seeing it as hypocritical and using at as a stick.

I see it as similar to someone giving up smoking. Times and attitudes to smoking have changed yet many people still have a smoking habit Most would acknowledge that it's not for the best, especially for someone in public office or a position of influence, and I doubt anyone would call someone hypocritical for giving it up, even if they worked in the health service.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120580892#Comment_120580892

Voluntary self action vs involuntary forced action.

It's not hard.

Castlekeeper

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120580954#Comment_120580954

Exactly, personal behaviour versus public benefit.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120581179#Comment_120581179

No. There's no public benefit to decimating vast swathes of rural Ireland due to a minority religion of rewetting.

Castlekeeper

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120581225#Comment_120581225

But that as it may be, it doesn't take away from the fact that there's credit due to him, especially as an urban TD, for giving up both his hobby and the convenience of air travel. If he were not to, then that may be considered hypocritical alright.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120581315#Comment_120581315

It's easy you're taken in. I haven't been on a plane since 2017, and 2011 before that. Yet I don't feel the need to virtue signal. There's no gun to anyone's head to leave the country.

I would say no.

Every party should have the interest of the whole country, urban and rural alike, front and centre, not just either / or, rural or urban.

I would consider it the role of the locally elected TDs and/or county councillors to lobby for their constituencies.

Cyclonius

Non-farmer here, but would gladly vote for a rural political party. Our existing political parties are too Dublin-centric, to the detriment of rural Ireland. We already have political parties that are largely urban based, in the form of the Greens, Labour, the Social Democrats, etc. Having an exclusively, or at least primarily, rural political party would be a useful counterweight.

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120581369#Comment_120581369

To be fair to him, the original story was put out there as a kind of 'Gotcha" against him, which subsequently failed. He wasnt trying to virtue signal here.

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120581564#Comment_120581564

Fair play to you but how someone can say "I'd vote for them" when not a single policy has been articulated is beyond me.

Greengrass53

A rural alliance to serve whose interests? Neanderthals like Fitz Maurice, healy real, mcgrath, etc, eh.... No thanks.

Count Dracula

It would never get enough votes, imo.

However, if it could be channeled or marketed ( politics is a business, don't forget it ) at specific rural industries it might have a hope. However within that model you are then challenging ideals?

For example take the meat industry, think of all the stakeholders. Farmers who manage the livestock, Entrepreneurs who buy it, the Labour force who package it, the lorry drivers who transport it, the Co-ops , the retailers and so on. Many different interests are hard to harmonize, particularly in a country like Ireland.

charlie14

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120581725#Comment_120581725

As such a rabid hater of anything rural, have you given any consideration to who other than these "muckers" and "culchies" is going to provide the food you will require to exist when you have grazed your way through your Eamon Ryan salad window box ?

endainoz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120583013#Comment_120583013

If they're using derogatory terms like that, I wouldn't give then the time of day to be honest...

Packrat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120583409#Comment_120583409

Yeah, I was going to reply to point out the abusive terms used or report the post but seeing as the mods here seem to condone farmer and rural bashing there's no point. His or her day will come when they forget they're not online and get a fist in the mouth off someone they deliberately insult.

Jonnyc135

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120583786#Comment_120583786

Same people insulting farmers probably marching for hate speech rights reforms.

Packrat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120584228#Comment_120584228

Absolutely. But only for the groups they support and like.

It's typical of today's zeitgeist.

Castlekeeper

Wouldn't Aontú be a good fit for such a party as being talked about here?

blue5000

Mod note; Count Dracula please don't post in this thread again.