Fergus O’Dowd – new FG environment spokesman

I am happy that he is in opposition,

His display on the week in politics was a disgraceful show of populism. I had hoped that Fine Gael under Enda Kenny would be different but apparently not.

It is only a pity that Fine Gael have no decent person to put forward for this post but in fairness they have little but constituency politicians left at this stage.

In a Discussion about one off housing,

his first comment was that the new guidelines ‘didn’t go far enough’ there was no mention of the Spatial Strategy, No mention of Pristine Landscapes as Dick Roche had done, No mention of holiday homes.

An Taisce did ‘good things’ but he wasn’t able to name any of them. As far as he was concerned protecting the environment was a mere secondary concern to ‘facilitating rural communities’

I always thought they could be balanced, there are very few situations where genuine local need can be proven in an SAC, more often than not the applicants get found out by the relevant County development plan rules which I would have to say in the plans that I have read are in the main adequate.

My own choices would have been Olivia Mitchell, John Deasy, Michael Noonan or Denis Naughten.

He is Drogheda based isn’t he?

That he is!