President Michael D Higgins urged the State to “lead by example” on climate action weeks before using the official helicopter for trips that could have been taken by car.
The Irish Mirror has learned he also used the aircraft to speak at a union conference in 2018 – with the presidential car dispatched from Dublin to Kerry to meet him there. Mr Higgins cost the taxpayer €8,000 – plus carbon emissions – by using the Agusta AW139 chopper to attend functions in Kenmare, Co Kerry and Ennis, Co Clare, on May 27 and 28.
In his speech to DCU students in earlier that month, the President added leaders must “lead” in order to be “credible” and bring people along on environmental action. He told its Centre for Climate and Society inaugural conference: “I see a role for the State that is one of leading in climate action, championing climate mitigation, resilience and adaptation.
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“The Irish State must lead by example if it is to have any credibility, any realistic hope of bringing its citizens with it on the challenging journey to a net-zero carbon future. Government departments and State agencies must become exemplars in climate mitigation given the whole-of-Government approach needed to curb our carbon emissions, as well as in climate adaptation given the State’s pivotal role as owners of land and infrastructure which is likely to be impacted by climate change.”
His office also told the Mirror in its latest response to queries that the government helicopter was used for another trip to Kerry in 2018. The President’s spokesman said: “This [Kenmare and Ennis trip] was the first travel by helicopter since May 2018 when the President spoke at the opening of the Forsa conference in Co Kerry and visited with the late Emma Mhic Mhathuna.”
A flight from Dublin to Farranfore in Kerry this week costs from as little as €16 and there are up to five daily departures from Dublin. Kenmare is only 38km from the Kerry airport. The helicopter was in the air for 120 minutes on the dates in May at a cost per hour of €3,990.
The Irish Mirror asked the Office of the President for a comment on the content of the DCU speech weeks before his helicopter flights. A spokesman replied: “Travel arrangements are made in line with the President’s programme of engagements.” All travel using MATS (Ministerial Air Transport Service) must be cleared by the Department of the Taoiseach.
Records received by the Irish Mirror from the Department of Defence through Freedom of Information show the President travelled to Kenmare GAA club and St Flannan’s College in Ennis, his alma mater, by helicopter on May 27 and 28 this year. Presidential cars driven by Garda drivers were on the ground to meet him and his entourage at each location to transport them to functions.
The Forsa conference President Higgins attended in May 2018 was held in the Gleneagle Hotel in Killarney. Other options for travel would have included by train, as Killarney train station is just 2km from the hotel, or commercial flights, with Farranfore (Kerry) airport only 16km away.
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It is 305km from the Aras in Phoenix Park should Mr Higgins have wished to have used the presidential car, which was driving down anyway to pick him up from the airport.
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