Ryan: Now is the time for action...
Greens ‘won’t sit on fence’ in climate crisis
GREEN Party leader Eamon Ryan is urging people not to “shoot the messenger” when it comes to communicating the urgency of halting climate change.
Mr Ryan has said weather events in recent months have “gone off the charts” and said his party believes radical change is needed but insisted it is “not easy to do”.
His comments come after Midleton in Cork was destroyed by flooding this week causing extensive damage to businesses and homes.
Storm Babet dumped a full month’s worth of rain, a staggering 120mm, on east Cork in less than 24 hours.
Speaking at his party’s annual convention in Cork yesterday, Minister Ryan said Ireland needs to improve its flood prediction capabilities.
He told reporters: “We know we are going to get more intense rain systems and we have to prepare for them.
“We have to improve our flood prediction capabilities.
“We have really good prediction capability around weather
now. We have really good modelling of weather systems.
“We need to enhance our modelling of flood systems so [we can understand] what is happening in those water levels.”
And the Minister stressed that his party should not be pitched against farmers, who he said are going to be the “frontline heroes” of the just transition towards climate neutrality. He said: “What we get is ‘it’s you versus the farmers’ or ‘you are against this and you are against car drivers.’ That is not true.
“The farmers are going to be the frontline heroes of this transition.”
Ryan said the aim of the Green Party is to return to government after the next general election.
He added: “It is not a time for sitting on the fence, it is a time for action – the next decade in particular.
“We should be willing to work with all parties.”
But when asked if that return would include Sinn Fein, Mr Ryan said that party has never shown any interest in environmental issues.
He said: “That would be a difficult programme for government negotiations, because to be honest Sinn Fein have not shown an interest in protecting the environment to the extent that we think is appropriate.
“We will sit down with them and try and make that happen, or any other parties. We get on well with our coalition partners, we get on well with Labour and the Soc Dems.
“That is the nature of our party. We will try to work with other people.”
We have to improve our flood prediction capabilities
EAMON RYAN GREEN PARTY LEADER
BUSINESS owners say they’ve been “decimated” after having to throw out thousands of euro worth of stock after Storm Babet struck earlier this week.
The main street in Midleton, Co Cork, has ground to a halt with business staff, volunteers and emergency services carrying out a clean-up following the deluge.
The town was one of the worst areas in the country impacted by the storm when flash floods hit shortly after midday on Tuesday.
In just a few hours, Midleton’s Main Street was submerged in chest-high flood water. Gardai described the town as “impassable” as all public transport in the area was shut down and hundreds of people were evacuated.
Three Ireland store manager Shane Lyons said he doubted whether or not the premises would be open again.
Speaking to Corkbeo, he added: “Something’s definitely gone wrong somewhere if a flood like this is unanticipated. We had no warning. Of course, there were the status yellow and orange alerts, but in terms of the flood, there was nothing. We just had to figure it out for ourselves.
“We put up the flood barrier as soon as we could but at around 2pm we had to abandon the shop.
“We might end up being relocated – not sure if it’s worth going back into this unit after all the damage. It’s been complete and utter devastation.”
Billy and Lisa O’brien, co-owners of Monty’s cafe, say that even though they’d dealt with bad flooding in 2015, this week’s storm caught them off-guard.
Billy said: “My wife first rang me at around 12.30pm. Within half an hour she called again and was very distressed. The banks had broken and water was gushing in the front door.
“We’d seen bad floods back in 2015, but this was 10 times worse. It’s hard to put the extent of the damage into words.
“The whole town is shut down now and some of these businesses won’t ever open again. It’s heartbreaking.”
Locals say they also feel like they’ve been left to foot the bill for the town’s extensive damages.
Despite Taoiseach Varadkar’s reassurance support schemes were on their way, some business owners say they’re already tens of thousands out of pocket.
Gordon Callinan has run The Pantry restaurant for more than 14 years.
He said he has spent upwards of €100,000 on upgrading the premises during the pandemic.
He added: “We were decimated in the last flood in 2015, but this was something else altogether.
“At the moment I’m easily going to be spending €20,000 this weekend alone.
“I could price on the rest of it, but in a few months’ time that could double as we learn the full extent of the damage. I have so much sympathy for other businesses.
“You have to compartmentalise the situation. If you start thinking about the whole thing and everything that’s gone wrong at once, you’re screwed.”
The Hub is a community service that provides mental health support and counselling. Work just finished last month on their new building, which was hit by severe flooding.
The Hub’s secretary, Helen Conway, said “about 12 months of our work has gone down the drain, and now many community and mental health groups won’t have anywhere to go”.
Barbara Mcgrath Hurley, the owner of Denbar Jewellers, said the floods hit just one day before her store would celebrate its 23rd birthday.
She added: “It was pure devastation walking in here after the floods, and I think there should’ve been a red warning to let people know what was coming.
“But the people of Midleton are strong and are hugely supportive of each other.
“I have no doubt that we’ll get through this.”