John Gormley

John Gormley highlights the closure of post offices in the Rathgar and Terenure areas in this brief video:

Speech to Dáil Éireann, 6 December 2006, by John Gormley TD, Green Party Chairman

I’m glad to have the opportunity at last to speak in the House on the issue of the running down of our Post Office network. As you know, Ceann Comhairle, I have repeatedly submitted questions, motions and requests for adjournment debates on this issue over the past few months. On each occasion, the matter was ruled out of order on the basis that the Minister is not responsible for An Post. However on the 11th of May this year, Minister Seamus Brennan told my colleague Dan Boyle in the House that “The Government is committed to maintaining a viable network of post offices throughout the country”. How can the Government be committed to an objective, and yet refuse to take action on it, and refuse to even answer questions about it in this house? (more…)

The Post Office in Rathgar has closed temporarily with effect from Wednesday 31st May. I have received a report from An Post on this matter, which is included below for your information. (more…)

Given that we’re now about 12 months from the General Election I thought it would be an appropriate time to start a blog. I don’t have a huge amount of time so the entries will be fairly sporadic.

I attended Terenure Residents Association last night - the only TD from Dublin South East to do so. Gay Mitchell and Michael Mulcahy were there from Dublin South Central plus a good representation of councillors and approximately 40 residents - Michael Mulcahy had done a head count. While the Gardaí gave a report about local crime, Michael - with whom I often discuss elections - bet me that Michael McDowell would top the poll in Dublin South East with a surplus of 2,000 votes! I took the bet immediately, which is for a magnum of champagne, if you don’t mind.

The problems raised by residents include litter, traffic, the proposed skateboard park - a discussion which became very heated - and the development plan for Terenure village.

I missed Eamon (Ryan) on Prime Time but saw it on the Net this morning. He was debating with Dr Ed Walsh about the question of nuclear power. Ed Walsh came across as pompous and arrogant. At the end he even asked Eamon was he ’scientifically literate’! Eamon won hands down. The point is, of course, that the Green Party arguments opposing nuclear power in Ireland are based totally on scientific findings.

Bertie says publicly that he’s opposed to nuclear power, but his speech to the Engineers Ireland conference yesterday was equivocal. He’s clearly under pressure from certain quarters to leave the door open for nuclear power.

Mr. Gormley: Sustainability is something we often discuss but rarely if ever define or put into practice. It first came to prominence in Rio de Janeiro and subsequently in Johannesburg where I attended the summit on sustainable development. We all need to define sustainability and put it in perspective. The Bruntland report defined sustainable development as development which meets the needs of the present generation without compromising those of future generations. It is about defining quality of life rather than standard of living. This Government may be quite good in terms of maintaining standards of living as we define them but its record on quality of life is not good. We have seen that. Quality of life has deteriorated during this Government’s reign. (more…)