John Gormley

Green Party Chairman launches campaign in Dublin South East

Green Party Chairman John Gormley TD today launched his general election campaign in Dublin South East with a plea to party activists and voters to ensure that Fianna Fáil and the PDs are ousted from government.

“I know from speaking to delegates at our Convention last weekend that they want Fianna Fáil and the PDs out of government,” said Deputy Gormley. “There is an unquenchable thirst for change in the party.

“Bertie Ahern can’t quite decide whether he’s St Paul or St Augustine. Last year we had his Pauline conversion to socialism, but when it comes to the environment it’s a case of ‘make me green, but not yet Lord’.

“All his plans for the future are in the future. Yes, he’s going to tax SUVs – but after the election. He’s going to introduce smart metering – after the election. At least Bertie now knows what smart metering is. He has the lingo now. He can just about talk the talk. But where’s the action?

“At the last election Fianna Fáil said they had a lot done, but more to do. In relation to the environment they have nothing done and a hell of a lot to do. Look at Dick Roche’s attitude to the higher insulation standards agreed by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown council. Look at the poor recycling facilities in Dublin South East. Then there’s the problem of the sewage treatment plant, the litter in the canal and the proposed incinerator, which Minister McDowell falsely claimed had collapsed. Look at the failure to deal with graffiti and the poor bus services.”

– Cutbacks and closures leading to illegal dumping

Statement by Green Party Chairman and TD for Dublin South East John Gormley:

“The Christmas tree recycling service for Dublin South East has been very disappointing this year and I have received quite a number of complaints from my constituents. Last year residents could simply tag their Christmas tree and leave it out for collection, but this year this service has been quietly dropped. The number of depots where Christmas trees can be brought for recycling has also been cut dramatically. In Dublin South East only one location – Gulistan Terrace in Rathmines – is accepting Christmas trees. The result is that many people are dumping their trees. It makes very little environmental sense to expect people to get in their cars and all travel from all corners of the constituency to one recycling centre.

“Sadly, the above scenario is indicative of overall cutbacks in the recycling services in Dublin South East and elsewhere under the Fianna Fáil and PD Government. We have witnessed the closure of the bring centre on Londonbridge Road, the curtailment of services at the Rathgar bring centre, and the Ringsend recycling centre is closed for most of Saturday and Sunday – precisely when busy people have the time to recycle.

“The Green Party in Government will significantly improve recycling services not just in Dublin South East but throughout Dublin and the country,” concluded Deputy Gormley.

This year Dublin City Council are only offering a minimal Christmas tree recycling service. The details of bring centres which are accepting Christmas trees are on the dublinwaste.ie site. The only centre in Dublin South East is the Rathmines Bring Centre at Gulistan Terrace.

Last year Dublin City Council operated a collection service where you could purchase a tag for your tree and it would be collected for recycling. This year the service was quietly dropped. This is another example of an area in which our recycling services are getting worse rather than better.