Sir, – Your recent Irish Times/Ipsos B&A opinion poll (News, November 15th) indicates that the vast majority of people in Ireland are less and less worried about climate change. The poll explores the influence of a range of current issues on people’s voting intentions in the upcoming election. Worryingly, a mere 4 per cent of the adult population put climate change at the top of their list. This is despite growing scientific evidence of the alarming effects of climate change and its disastrous probabilities for our children and grandchildren. In the poll, the Green Party, who were the main party responsible for significant recent reductions in carbon emissions, are now showing at 3 per cent. This is a virtual electoral wipeout. They are getting little thanks for trading their popularity with voters in favour of doing the right thing at this critical time for our country and for our planet. As we approach polling day, I want to encourage people to pull back the lens and get a better overview of the relative importance of the issues which most influence their voting intentions. Of course, issues such as cost of living, housing, healthcare, etc, are important and are an understandable priority for many people. However, a greatly deteriorating climate has serious and perhaps disastrous impacts on everybody and particularly on younger people and their children; this effect will be less reversible the more we delay. In the upcoming election, we have an opportunity to ensure that our next government continues to have a strong driving force for tackling this critical issue. – Your, etc,
J A O’GRADY,
Dublin 6W.