Eamon Ryan rejects claims he is ‘hated’ by rural Ireland over climate policies

Many people in rural Ireland are “just like urban people” and “want us to be good at being green”, Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan has said.

Mr Ryan, the Green Party leader, rejected the suggestion that people in rural Ireland hate him or that he was out of touch with rural dwellers, as has been claimed by some political opponents who object to certain Green Party policies.

During a pre-Christmas interview, Mr Ryan said that applications for Government schemes to fund farmers seeking to transition to lower carbon-intensive forms of agriculture were “massively oversubscribed”, and that organic farming was also rapidly growing.

“You look at the applications for that Acres scheme,” he said, referring to the flagship €1.5 billion Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme designed to address biodiversity decline and give income support for up to 50,000 farms in Ireland. “It’s massively oversubscribed.”

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He added: “You look at the numbers applying for organic farming. It’s turned around in the last two years. Two, three years ago you’d open an organic scheme [and] hardly anyone applies. Now it’s oversubscribed.”

The Government launched its updated Climate Action Plan (CAP) before Christmas, which Mr Ryan said is a “huge opportunity for Irish family farms for new income sources”. He said there were new funding mechanisms for farmers seeking to invest in renewable energy technologies such as anaerobic digestion and solar power, and for new forestry supports.

Asked why the link between new supports for farming and the green agenda was not made in rural Ireland, he said he spends a lot of time around the country, in rural areas and visiting local authorities.

“I think actually there’s a lot of people in rural Ireland who are just like urban people – they want us to be good at being green.”

Green Party policies have provoked a backlash from some in rural Ireland in recent years, both before and after the party entered the Coalition Government in 2020. In 2019, he suggested a rural village of 300 people could use a car-sharing scheme with just 30 cars, prompting criticism from rural TDs. The Green Party said at the time his words were misinterpreted.

Last year, planned changes to rules governing the sale of certain wood and turf products in homes led to clashes with Coalition partners Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. Earlier this year Mr Ryan blamed “misinformation and disinformation” for the backlash against his proposals, but the policy was watered down.

People with turf-cutting rights are still able to cut turf for their own use and may gift or sell turf, once it is not sold online or in retail outlets. The ban also covered other smoky fuels, including smoky coal and wet wood, which are big contributors to air pollution and produce particulate matter that has been linked to increases in respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, dementia and other ailments.

He suggested before Christmas that the car park at Leinster House be turned into a public green space, with TDs and staff given alternative parking nearby, which led to criticism again from backbenchers including former cabinet minister Michael Ring.