Friends of the Earth to picket social partnership talks

national | environment | press release Tuesday February 13, 2007 19:12 by Friends of the Earth info at foe dot ie 9 Upper Mount Street, Dublin 2 01-6394652

Friends of the Earth will be picketing Dublin Castle on Thursday morning, for the first meeting of social partners under Towards 2016, the latest national agreement, to protest at the exclusion of environmental groups from the discussions. The Department of the Taoiseach has twice refused to meet with representatives of environmental organizations to discuss their participation in Partnership, turning down their written requests point blank.

Commenting on the exclusion of environmental groups from the Parternship talks, Friends of the Earth Director, Oisin Coghlan, said:
"It's simply absurd that environmental groups are being locked out of social partnership at a time when climate change and energy sustainability are looming large. When this government was first elected in 1997 they promised to put the environment at the heart of public policy. Now, 10 years later, with Ireland's climate pollution spiralling out of control, Bertie Ahern is refusing to invite environmental groups to participate in social partnership".

The first meeting of the parties to the latest Partnership deal, Towards 2016, opens in Dublin Castle at 8.30am on Thursday 15th February. It will be addressed by An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern TD, and attended by representatives of IBEC, ICTU, IFA and other social partners. Friends of the Earth will be picketing at the the pedestrian entrance to Dublin Castle, which is opposite the Olympia Theatre on Dame St, from 8am.

The Social Partnership meeting comes the day before the EPA is due to release figures showing that Irelands' greenhouse gas emissions have risen to 25% above 1990 levels, almost twice the rise the Government committed to under Kyoto. The EPA report will be published on Kyoto Day, 16th February, the second anniversary of the day in 2005 when the Protocol came into force.