Green Party Dublin launch: The Green Party has said it wants to form "civic alliances" with like-minded parties after the local government elections on the four Dublin councils to promote agreed policies for the capital.
The party's Dublin manifesto, published yesterday, contains a series of specific proposals for the city including the establishment of a national park in the Dublin mountains and linear parks along the Liffey, Dodder and Tolka valleys.
It proposes turning College Green into a traffic-free piazza, linking the city's two Luas lines, a coastal walkway and cycleway from Bray to Balbriggan, 20 m.p.h. speed limits in residential areas and directly-elected mayors in each local authority to serve five-year terms.
The party leader, Mr Trevor Sargent, told yesterday's press conference that his party wanted to make Dublin "the greenest city in Europe by 2010".
"With most of our jobs being in services, creative and digital businesses, Dublin has everything to gain from developing such a clean green economy," he said.
The party's Dublin candidate for the European election, Ms Patricia McKenna MEP, said that dealing with waste was the biggest environmental challenge in the capital. She said a recycling programme rather than landfill dumping or incineration was the correct approach.
Several party candidates in the local elections highlighted aspects of the party's programme at yesterday's press conference. Ms Kristina McElroy, running for Dublin City Council in the Crumlin-Kimmage ward, said the party wanted to build a new public library to international standard in a pedestrian-friendly city centre.
Cllr Fintan McCarthy, in the Lucan ward of South Dublin County Council, said the Liffey valley must be preserved from "speculators' bulldozers" by turning it into a linear park, which would protect the green spaces along the river.
Cllr Ciarán Fallon (Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Council, Dundrum ward) called for the lowering of stamp duty on those selling larger houses to move to smaller ones, saying this would revitalise traditional suburbs.
Cllr Robert Kelly (Fingal Council, Malahide ward) called for the implementation of the findings of the recent all-party Oireachtas committee report on private property.
"There is plenty of zoned land available in Dublin, but it will take an annual levy on such land which is not being developed, to stop the practice of land hoarding," he said.