Green Party leader Eamon Ryan has denied that he “hates rural Ireland” or that people in rural Ireland “hate him”.
It comes following a contentious year that saw the Green Party in Government knuckle down on the retail sale of turf.
There was also an ongoing debate between Minister Ryan and Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue regarding emission cuts for the farming sector.
The Green Party has been routinely accused of not understanding rural Ireland.
However, Minister Ryan insisted that he does not “hate rural Ireland” and that it is not just people in Dublin who want to go green.
He noted that the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme, known as ACRES, is “massively oversubscribed”.
“You look at the numbers applying for organic farming, it’s turned around in the last two years,” he told reporters.
“Two years, three years ago, you'd open an organic scheme, hardly anyone applied. Now it's oversubscribed.”
Minister Ryan also noted that the new Climate Action Plan launched before Christmas is a “huge opportunity for Irish farm family farms for new income sources”.
He pointed to developments in anaerobic digestion and solar power, as well as new forestry mechanisms which will see people developing forests receiving €1,100 per hectare.
Minister Ryan continued: “I spend a lot of time around the country visiting all these councils.
“I also happen to spend a lot of time in rural Ireland. I’ll be heading out of Dublin [over Christmas] because I’ve always done that.
“There are some people maybe who kind of think, ‘oh, it's all about turf’.
“But I think actually there's a lot of people in rural Ireland just like urban people, they want us to be good at being green.”
When it was put to the Green Party leader that “the rural people don’t hate you and you don’t hate rural people”, he responded, “sure don’t”.
There was controversy over this year when it was suggested that the sale of turf in rural Ireland would be banned outright.
During feisty meetings with Minister Ryan, Fine Gael backbenchers warned that the Green Party leader was “threatening the stability of the Government” with the proposals. Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar also spoke out against a potential blanket ban.
However, Minister Ryan insisted that those with turbary rights would be allowed to continue cutting turf, as well as gifting or selling it in small quantities.
The sale of turf in retail settings and online was banned from October 31.
Minister Ryan insisted at the time that this was done as a public health measure in a bid to reduce the 1,300 deaths caused every year by air pollution.
The Green Party leader also angered farmers during negotiations on climate emission targets. While Minister Ryan pushed for a 30% reduction in emissions, the Agriculture Minister called for a 22% reduction. Following weeks of negotiations, a 25% cut in emissions was agreed.
READ NEXT:
- Ireland weather mayhem fueled by US killer freeze with Met Eireann warning of snow and storms
- Man 'stabbed in neck with bottle' fighting for life as gardai make arrest in Cork
- Gardai renew appeal for information 20 years after vicious murder of Sean Poland
- 'All my tragic sister wanted was help managing her pain - she was let down by the State'
- How to turn 20 days of annual leave into 46 days off in 2023 with one easy trick
Get breaking news to your inbox by signing up to our newsletter
