"Green" policies are destroying this country

that example is a failure of the SHD system, not of “Green Policies”. The planning system typically allows for an exchange of information between the developer and the planning authority. SHDs don’t allow this. The application is lodged to ABP and it either passes or it doesn’t. If there was an RFI mechanism in the SHD legislation then they could’ve requested further info on the bats (or whatever else was needed). The developer can then engage in a process with the Authority. All of this is extremely common in typical planning apps but not for SHDs. This is a legislative mess, not a green policy mess.

They might retain 1 TD if lucky. They have done a lot of what they said they'd do so I don't really know why previous Green voters would be disappointed in their term in government.

The thing is all the parties are in trouble. Half of FG's sitting TD's are resigning, SF are in trouble, hard to know what way it will go. Could be independents harvest.

A lot of the green votes from last time were SF transfers in constituencies where there was no left candidate. After their current record in govt supporting FFG it's unlikely they'll get those same transfers

Furthermore on "green" issues the party has stood by watching the recent drop in EV car sales, some very bad reports on their climate promises of net zero, bus services inter city being curtailed and public transport provision in Cork city being decimated. But don't worry, they're making an extra 2c on the liter of diesel so that will save the planet

Bus services much better where I live and those taxes would be happening with or without Greens. Also the investment in active travel is much appreciate by woke cyclists like me. I would have thought most of their voter base were urban people like me who would be pleased with what they've done and wouldnt notice 4c increases but I must be wrong.

we ve been banging this drum for years now, how many journeys have we moved from the private car, towards alternatives such as bicycles?

you ll find that answer is, not really all that many, but some of course, so this is far more complex than we realise….

some journeys are a part of multi destinations, with multiple people, some carrying some luggage and other things, best of luck with trying to organise all of that with all on their bicycles!

who said anything about medical issues, this is basic human behavior, we like convenience, the cats out of the bag now in regards having the ability to run the private car, and many households with more than one car!

not only does the private car make journeys more convenient and quicker, but they also protect you from the weather, so again, best of luck convincing the general public of giving up the car!

yup, we re an open economy, so, the private fossil fuel car is here to stay for a good while, until production ceases of course!

Adding 1000's more private cars to the road each year isn't viable either. Moving to active travel will reduce some of that even if it's a very small % it's still less congestion and pollution on the streets improving peoples health and freeing up space for PT.

Of course, that's down to previous Govt. policies of prioritising the private car over PT and one off housing dotted all over the country.

But what you're talking about there really is holding off on making improvements to public transport until public transport improves.

And one of those major improvements we can do now is reducing the dependence on private cars and increasing road space for Active travel and PT.

So In the absence of solutions, offer people the chance to moan about cyclists?

nope, not at all, im a cyclists myself, again, the increase in infrastructure is very much appreciated, but the big picture reality is, theres still a sh1t load of private cars in circulation, and most journeys are still conducted by them, and will remain to be so, for a very very long time, and again, most of those vehicles will remain to be fossil fueled!

solution, rapid expansion of public transport, especially rail, but again, its not gonna happen!

…so, again, fossil fueled private cars it is!

no, they cant, again, changing to cycling for the main source of transport is simply not possible for most, for some of the reasons given, this is why it hasnt happened yet, and never will!

again, this is not for medical reasons, but for other human need reasons, including convenience, and time constraints!

this is not for reasons of 'laziness', this type of thinking is in fact lazy in itself!

the modern world has been ultimately designed around the private car, and thats that!

in order to change this, we must implement viable alternatives, and one of the best being rail, but again, this isnt gonna happen…

…so the private fossil fueled car it will be!

…greens, who im an actual supporter of, dont seem to understand this at all!

Limerick

The new one on the Childers Road is great for taking scramblers off roads. The narrower roads we have now cause traffic to build up because there is less space to have left or right turning lanes in a few places

Another classic example is the Shannon bridge where traffic coming from the north used to have 2 lanes coming up to the roundabout but now there is only 1 because of the cycle lane being added

Need a lot to change for that to be realistic, namely the climate needs to change to a more South-French/Spanish one

Cops cracking down on scramblers using them would need to happen too