Overcome urban-rural divide to tap our full potential

I CONTINUE to be amazed that this paper, and Irish media more broadly, continues to repeat Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael claims that the Green Party is out to destroy farming (‘Farming “must not be sacrificial lamb” in Greens coalition talks’, May 12).

There is nothing in the Green Party platform which says “the Green Party will reduce carbon emissions through severe cuts to our herd” any more than there is something saying “everybody will have to become vegan and walk or cycle everywhere”.

The Greens have a very aggressive stance towards mitigating climate change, in line with EU targets, which will definitely involve collaboration with and innovation within a large number of carbon-intensive sectors. There are massive opportunities for Ireland to take a world leadership – our position as a small island gives us a great environment in which to incubate innovation.

It is also important to note the Green Party reflects the Dublin-rural divide we have. To put it bluntly: Dublin-based people generally fail to appreciate the importance of farming to our economy and culture, and the innovative nature of farmers in general. They also tend to fail to appreciate public transportation only works with dense populations, and things like rural broadband infrastructure are woefully lacking.

Journalists need to get out of Dublin and start paying closer attention to the news and views of those of us who do not live in Dublin. This is particularly true in coverage of climate change politics, where regurgitating partisan tripe does nothing but divide our nation further and hinder us from tapping into our full innovative potential. Phil Miesle

Ennis, Co Clare