Climate:Labour must ensure that its promises to protect the environment and cope with climate change do not damage the party's ability to get elected, according to former deputy leader Brendan Howlin.
During the course of the conference, Labour delegates were given stark warning about the challenges posed by global warming from environmentalist and architect, Duncan Stewart, TD Eamon Gilmore, and MEP Proinsias De Rossa.
However, Mr Howlin cautioned against proposing draconian changes before public opinion could be brought along, or else the party would face losing support.
Under a plan put forward on Friday, Mr Gilmore committed Labour to cutting Ireland's carbon dioxide emissions back to their 1990 levels by 2016 and to making the State carbon-neutral by 2030.
He said such drastic moves were necessary to help protect the planet, but also to safeguard Ireland's future economic interests and to avoid UN fines that could run to €2 billion a year by 2020 if action was not taken.
Describing climate change as the "greatest challenge for socialists", Labour policy co-ordinator Brendan Halligan said: "We will be faced with extraordinary questions about personal freedoms, about our right to live where we want to live. Once-off housing will be a huge issue, so too will be how we use our cars."
On Friday, Labour election candidates were briefed on the effects of global warming by Duncan Stewart.
He said major changes must happen immediately if disaster was to be staved off, although he said some scientists believe too much damage has already been done to stop the relentless rise in temperatures.
Mr De Rossa said the Government's National Development Plan intended to "cover this little island in concrete", without heeding warnings from environmental organisations.
He said Airtricity, the wind turbine company, has been frustrated in its effort to build a necklace of turbines from the Irish Sea down to the Mediterranean.
Questioned about National Toll Roads's 51 per cent ownership of Airtricity, Mr De Rossa said: "I didn't know that, but, to be honest, I don't care. They are capitalists who are out to make money."
The Labour Party, said Mr Halligan, will publish a number of documents on the environment over the next few weeks. He said the ESB could be given a new mandate to develop wind and tidal energy supplies, while plans to build a 500 megawatt electricity interconnector with the UK by 2012 were too slow and not ambitious enough.
