Latest news with #RodericOGorman
Irish Times
24-06-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Green Party leader Roderic O'Gorman to take part in banned Budapest Pride march
Green Party leader Roderic O'Gorman will take part in this weekend's banned Pride march in Budapest along with other European politicians to show solidarity with Hungary's LGBTI+ community. Mr O'Gorman said Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban has 'chipped away' at LGBTI+ rights during his time in office and said: 'The banning of pride is probably the most dramatic escalation of his attacks on the LGBTI+ community'. Hungary's government has passed a law restricting gatherings if they break child protection laws on public promotion of homosexuality. The police in Budapest have banned the annual Pride march there. READ MORE However, the mayor, Hungarian Green Party politician Gergely Karacsony, has said there will be a Pride march on Saturday. Mr O'Gorman criticised the law that led to the banning of the march, saying using an argument of child protection as a way of restricting the rights of the LGBTI+ community is 'a playbook that far-right regimes and far-right organisations use all over the world'. He added: 'It's really important that we call it out.' He said he experienced this during his ministerial career and was 'constantly under attack' online 'because I was a gay man who happened to be a minister for children'. Mr O'Gorman said those marching in Budapest will do so under threat from the government's law and the police ban, and will be risking a fine. He said he did not know if police will seek to break up the event, but said: 'All eyes will be on Budapest and the actions of the police and indeed the government will be under really close scrutiny.' Former taoiseach Leo Varadkar is separately expected to speak at a different event in Budapest this week, the International Human Rights Conference for the Equality of the LGBTI+ Community.
Irish Times
18-06-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
€100 should be added to leap cards of anyone waiting more than 12 weeks for driving test, Dáil hears
Anyone waiting more than three months for a driving test should have €100 put on their Leap card as an incentive to use whatever public transport is available in their area, the Dáil was told. Social Democrats TD Aidan Farrelly said that given the backlog in driving tests for young people he called on the Minister for Transport to consider, as part of the next budget, putting €100 on learners' travel cards, for anyone waiting more than 10 or 12 weeks. 'This would give people an incentive to use whatever public transport is available be it rail or Local Link, he said. An estimated 100,000 people have applied for the test with an average waiting time of 20.6 weeks. READ MORE The Kildare North TD was speaking during a private member's debate on public transport. Green Party leader Roderic O'Gorman said the programme for Government contains significant commitments on public transport but is 'completely lacking' on the amount of funding and 'there isn't a deadline in sight'. Introducing the motion, he said that with no clear timelines there is less pressure on agencies and 'without constant pressure from the top no big reform in this country will ever succeed', Mr O'Gorman said. The motion calls for a further 20 per cent reduction in fare prices across the lifetime of this Government, the establishment of a new public transport passenger experience office and ensure a transport security force is operational by the end of 2026. To ensure this target is met funding for it should be included in this year's budget. The legislation would have to be introduced in September or October this year, he said. 'It means putting drafters under pressure, but there is widespread agreement that we need to improve the perception of safety on our public transport services, so let's deliver that now.' Minister of State for Transport Seán Canney said there is a 'strong commitment' to establish a transport security force with similar powers to the airport police and customs officers and operating under the National Transport Authority (NTA). The department is working to examine options for the establishment of a force but he warned the legislation will have a 'significant lead-in time'. 100 per cent Redress Party TD Charles Ward said the lack of public transport in Donegal had led to 'chronic traffic issues' and 'Letterkenny is a disaster'. He said ambulances 'constantly struggling to reach Letterkenny Hospital and what used to be a five-minute journey now takes 45 minutes and it's putting lives at risk'. People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy called for free public transport and said it was a 'question of political will to implement it'. He said it would cost €650 million but that 'needs to be matched with significant capital investment' to expand services. Independent TD Brian Stanley said it was time to tackle the 'nonsense' of drivers over the age of 70 not being allowed to drive schoolbuses when they drive private coaches with 52 passengers on board. Mr Stanley said the age limit should be pushed out to 75 with strict annual medical and driving tests for them. This would help reduce the shortage of bus drivers. Sinn Féin TD Pa Daly said 'we only have to look at Dublin's MetroLink, which has been stuck in the pipeline for decades, to see why Ireland regularly ranks as having one of the worst public transport systems in the EU'. The Kerry TD said there is still no rail in Donegal and that region 'ranks in the bottom 10 per cent of the EU's 234 regions in terms of transport infrastructure'. He said 'the Government cannot stand over that any more'. Labour TD Ciarán Ahearn there is 'no vision for public transport' in the Government's plans. 'There is no lodestar to work towards, and the programme for Government is beyond bare on details. Instead, it is bypasses for the boys, lay-bys for the lackeys.'
BreakingNews.ie
18-06-2025
- General
- BreakingNews.ie
Taoiseach agrees on need to prevent ‘toxic goo lagoon' in Wexford
The Taoiseach has agreed that action is needed to prevent the 'unique' Lady's Island Lake in Co Wexford from becoming a 'toxic goo lagoon'. Lady's Island Lake, the largest saltwater lagoon in Ireland, has turned green due to the level of algae pollution from nutrient run-off. Advertisement The lagoon surrounds Our Lady's Island, which is an area of pilgrimage, and is a habitat for wildfowl, that means it has legal protection. In January, an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report said that Lady's Island Lake was 'severely degraded' due to overflows of nitrogen and possibly phosphorus, commonly used as agricultural fertilisers. The EPA said Lady's Island Lake 'exemplifies' the problems involved in managing Irish lagoons and said, even if the run-off issue was addressed, nutrients in the lagoon's sediments could continue to affect its ecology. Green Party leader and former minister Roderic O'Gorman said a different approach was needed to resolve the pollution problem, which he said dates back to the 1980s. Advertisement 'The damage has been building here for four decades, and the existing processes, they just haven't worked,' he told the Dáil. 'In place of a thriving ecosystem, we're going to end up with a toxic goo lagoon. 'If we fail to act, we don't have far to look to see what's next for Lady's Island. 'Lough Neagh is already described as toxic due to the algal bloom that it experiences each summer.' Advertisement He quoted an author of the EPA report Dr Cilian Roden who said that the lagoon's 'glow can be seen from space'. 'Now Taoiseach, it's important we don't frame this as blaming farmers, but the impact of nutrient runoff at this significant site is absolutely clear. 'But so too are the recommendations from the EPA on how we can save Lady's Island Lake: enforce existing regulations about agricultural nutrients entering the lake, help farmers change their practices, improve the buffer zones around the water sources flowing into the lake.' An aerial view of Ireland's largest saltwater lagoon, Lady's Island Lake (Niall Carson/PA) Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that it should be 'a priority to reverse the pollution' of Lady's Island Lake. Advertisement He said an action plan was needed, which 'may involve financial intervention' to enable such a plan. He said as the problem involves nutrient overflow into the body of water, the solution would have to involve the neighbouring farmers and all other stakeholders involved. He said Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon, Minister for the Environment Darragh O'Brien and Minister of State Christopher O'Sullivan would be asked to pull together a plan on the issue. 'There are other projects that farmers have cooperated in, the Burren being a very good example, where we've got very good outcomes,' Mr Martin said. Advertisement 'Because it's not satisfactory that you would have that ecological devastation at such an important site for a range of reasons.' Asked whether he wanted the 'unique' habitat to become a 'dead zone for nature', Mr Martin replied: 'I certainly don't.' He said in the last number of years, staff numbers at the National Wildlife Park Service had doubled, lands had been bought to become national parks and there is now a biodiversity officer at every local authority.
Irish Times
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Attorney General ‘raised no issue' with banning services from illegal Israeli settlements - O'Gorman
The Attorney General did not raise an issue with banning services from illegal Israeli settlements, Roderic O'Gorman has said. The Green Party leader, who was a minister in the last coalition, said that Government claims of a legal issue with banning services was 'a delaying tactic'. It comes as the Government is examining legislation that would ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian lands. But Tánaiste Simon Harris has said that while there is a legal 'pathway' to ban goods, there is an issue with banning services from the occupied territories. READ MORE Speaking on RTÉ's The Week in Politics, Mr O'Gorman said that passing the Occupied Territories Bill would 'reverberate internationally'. 'It would be a really significant change in approach, and I have real concerns about this attempt now to create a distinction between goods and services,' Mr O'Gorman said. 'The Attorney General last July provided a very detailed assessment of Senator Frances Black's Bill, raised some issues, legitimate issues that can be addressed by amendment. 'There was no reference to an issue around services in his very detailed legal advice. 'This is a new issue that has been brought in subsequent to the general election, a general election where Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael made extensive commitments about passing the Occupied Territories Bill and, to my mind, it's a delaying tactic. 'The Government have said they will publish a draft before summer, they haven't promised to pass it. 'This is about kicking the can down the road,' Mr O'Gorman said, adding that the Bill could be passed by the summer 'if there was the will'. Minister of State Hildegarde Naughton said the Government was 'certainly not doing that' and referred to 'issues around the constitutionality and the legal limitations' of the Bill. 'This is not a policy difference – I want to be very clear – around goods and services, this is about ensuring that we get that legislation right,' she said. Mr Harris said during the week that there is 'a narrow pathway', based on an advisory opinion from the UN's top court, to legislate on banning trade with illegal Israeli settlements. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) said countries should 'take steps to prevent trade or investment relations' that maintain Israeli settlements on Palestinian land, which it deemed illegal. Mr Harris said during the week that the Government had 'not yet been able to identify the narrow pathway on services, that's the truth'. 'It's not a policy position. It's a legal position,' he said. Ms Black, who first introduced the Bill in 2018, said she would 'not be happy' with a Bill that only banned the trade of goods. Speaking at a neutrality event in Dublin on Saturday, she said she wanted the Government to stick to its commitment to pass the Bill before the Dáil's summer recess. '[Simon Harris] said that he was open to investigating [banning services] and to looking at it so it will be up to us to show them that it is legal,' she said. 'We have had lots of lawyers who have looked at this and said 100 per cent, there is no doubt about it, it is legal.' Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald also said her party would not accept a Bill that does not include a ban on services. She said action is needed to prevent the starvation and killing in Gaza , and 'Ireland needs to lead'. 'To cite legal concerns at this stage when this has gone on for so long, this legislation has been on the cards for so very long, to start now saying that they are coming up with legal blocks really isn't acceptable – and if there are legal concerns, publish your advice,' she said on Saturday. – PA
BreakingNews.ie
11-05-2025
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
Attorney General ‘raised no issue' with services ban with Israeli settlements
The Attorney General did not raise an issue with banning services from illegal Israeli settlements, Roderic O'Gorman has said. The Green Party leader, who was a minister in the last coalition, said that government claims of a legal issue with banning services was 'a delaying tactic'. Advertisement The Government is examining legislation that would ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian lands. But Tánaiste Simon Harris has said that while there is a legal 'pathway' to ban goods, there is an issue with banning services from the occupied territories. Speaking on RTÉ's The Week in Politics, Mr O'Gorman said that passing the Occupied Territories Bill would 'reverberate internationally'. 'It would be a really significant change in approach, and I have real concerns about this attempt now to create a distinction between goods and services,' he said. Advertisement 'The Attorney General last July provided a very detailed assessment of Senator Frances Black's bill, raised some issues, legitimate issues that can be addressed by amendment. 'There was no reference to an issue around services in his very detailed legal advice. 'This is a new issue that has been brought in subsequent to the general election, a general election where Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael made extensive commitments about passing the Occupied Territories Bill and, to my mind, it's a delaying tactic. 'The Government have said they will publish a draft before summer, they haven't promised to pass it.' Advertisement 'This is about kicking the can down the road,' he added, adding that the Bill could be passed by the summer 'if there was the will'. Tánaiste Simon Harris said the matter was a 'legal position', not a policy position (Brian Lawless/PA) Minister of State Hildegarde Naughton said the Government was 'certainly not doing that' and referred to 'issues around the constitutionality and the legal limitations' of the Bill. 'This is not a policy difference – I want to be very clear – around goods and services, this is about ensuring that we get that legislation right,' she said. Tnáaiste Simon Harris said during the week that there is 'a narrow pathway', based on an advisory opinion from the UN's top court, to legislate on banning trade with illegal Israeli settlements. Advertisement The International Court of Justice (ICJ) said countries should 'take steps to prevent trade or investment relations' that maintain Israeli settlements on Palestinian land, which it deemed illegal. Mr Harris said during the week that the Government had 'not yet been able to identify the narrow pathway on services, that's the truth'. 'It's not a policy position. It's a legal position,' he said. Independent Senator Frances Black, who first introduced the Bill to the Irish Parliament in 2018, said she would 'not be happy' with a Bill that only banned the trade of goods. Advertisement Speaking at a neutrality event in Dublin on Saturday, she said she wanted the Government to stick to its commitment to pass the Bill before the Parliament's summer recess. Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald also said her party would not accept a Bill that does not include a ban on services (Liam McBurney/PA) '(Simon Harris) said that he was open to investigating (banning services) and to looking at it so it will be up to us to show them that it is legal. 'We have had lots of lawyers who have looked at this and said 100 per cent, there is no doubt about it, it is legal.' Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald also said her party would not accept a Bill that does not include a ban on services. She said action is needed to prevent the starvation and killing in Gaza, and 'Ireland needs to lead'. 'To cite legal concerns at this stage when this has gone on for so long, this legislation has been on the cards for so very long, to start now saying that they are coming up with legal blocks really isn't acceptable – and if there are legal concerns, publish your advice,' she said on Saturday.
