Ireland Version 2 – our democracy’s due an upgrade

Gearoid Fitzgibbon

By Gearoid Fitzgibbon

Given the scale of the economic crisis in Ireland, it is no surprise that political reform was one of the key issues in the 2011 General Election. There was a sense that the “operating system” of Ireland, our constitution, needed to be upgraded.

Our democracy needed an upgrade and all parties came up with proposals including Fine Gael and Labour. Nine pages of the 64-page ‘Programme for Government’ were on the topic of political reform.

Along with a number of specific referendums, the Programme promised to establish a Constitutional Convention.

Group insulation schemes can jumpstart your local economy!

Gearoid Fitzgibbon writes

Investing in home insulation and energy efficiency gives a better return than most other sorts of investments: it saves the householder money, it gives work to local contractors, it circulates money back into the local economy, and, from a national perspective, reduces our dependence on imported fossil fuels, and lowers our carbon emissions. 

It also counters fuel poverty, which affects 16 % of households (according to a 2001 survey), a figure that will have only increased since the recession.

 
Where once the case was made for such investment from a “green” perspective, it can now be proven from a purely financial point of view. Communities and community groups around the country are hungry for actions to boost the stagnant local economy.

Tipp parish targets energy waste to spur rural economy

North Tipperary Energy Presentation

By Allen Meagher
 

An energy audit by community volunteers and development workers has found that a parish in County Tipperary spent over €1million last year to heat and power its 400 households. 

Thirty homes in the area had no insulation whatsoever while others were poorly insulated and were difficult, not to mind expensive, to heat. Much of the housing stock in the area dates back to before 1920.