Chambers rounds on Green leader

‘PROPOSAL NOT FEASIBLE’ Deputy Lisa Chambers.

Anton McNulty

The leader of the Green Party was accused last week of ‘talking down to people living in rural Ireland’ following his controversial comments on car usage in rural communities.
Green Party leader, Eamon Ryan came in for ridicule in some quarters after he suggested that the Government should incentivise car-sharing and that rural communities should have a set amount of cars which would be available through a collection and drop-off system. Deputy Ryan said a village of 300 people could be serviced by 30 cars.
The Dublin Bay South TD made his comments on Virgin Media’s Ireland AM programme following last Tuesday’s Budget and his comments have led to criticism from politicians from rural constituencies.
“It is completely out of touch to suggest that people living in rural Ireland can live without their cars,” said Mayo Fianna FΡil TD Lisa Chambers. “Perhaps Deputy Ryan and his party would be better off advocating for adequate rural transport before taking cars off people.
“There is an element of someone living in Dublin City talking down to people living in rural Ireland. I have great time for Eamon Ryan and I don’t doubt his passion on the climate change issue, we all want to play our part in combating climate change, but these types of proposals are just not feasible and show that Mr Ryan has no idea what living in rural Ireland entails,” said Deputy Chambers.
Deputy Ryan’s comments also caused a flood of online fury with the general public also taking to social media to rubbish the suggestion. Ballycastle footballer, MicheΡl Forde, a former Mayo footballer,  tweeted: “A salary of €100,000 and Eamon Ryan’s big idea for rural Ireland is car sharing? I’d like to see him in Ballycastle or any other rural village for a couple of weeks and see how he gets on. Very easy for him to say this being born and raised in south Dublin.”
Response
The Green Party hit back, accusing the media of misrepresenting Deputy Ryan’s comments, and claimed they were the only party seeking solutions to transport in rural Ireland.
“The Green Party does not stand for restricting car ownership, and to state otherwise is a huge misrepresentation of the party position and of Eamon’s comments. What Eamon Ryan proposed was that car sharing could provide people in rural Ireland with extra options.
“We deeply regret the hurt that has been caused to rural communities. We are facing a climate emergency, and the impact of that will disproportionately hit rural areas. We want to prevent that. Carpooling is one idea that might work for some people in some areas. It’s not Green Party policy. It’s not even a Green Party idea - carpooling was debated by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action, where Fine Gael, Fianna FΡil and Labour all voted in favour.
“When it comes to climate change, people in rural Ireland are sometimes made to feel like they are part of the problem. Rural Ireland is not part of the problem, but by investing significantly in rural communities, we believe rural Ireland can become a big part in the solution,” the party stated.