Voters in this year’s European Parliament elections should question the environmental credentials of candidates in considering who to vote for in the East constituency. This is the view of Kilkenny Councillor Malcolm Noonan. He is calling on the electorate to take on board issues of climate change, support for Irish agriculture, genetic modification of food and water quality in deciding who to vote for in the upcoming elections.
Cllr Noonan, who was widely tipped to be the Green Party’s candidate for the East constituency, withdrew his name from the running to focus solely on his local election campaign. He also felt it was unfair that, had he been ratified, four of the five candidates would have been based in Kilkenny.
“I have spoken to a number of the candidates from other parties and I feel that there is nothing to be gained by my name being put forward at this stage,” said Cllr Noonan. “I would like to see voters taking environmental issues into consideration in deciding who to vote for. Climate change is the single biggest threat facing humanity in coming decades and I think it essential that Ireland has good representation in Europe which will reflect our commitment to tackling the climate crisis. I have worked to try and bring into effect a Climate Law which was first proposed in the Seanad by the Labour Party and I think that in the East constituency, they have a credible environmental candidate in Nessa Childers”, he said. “In my view, party politics have very little currency in these difficult times and I think it’s time for voters to think strategically about issues and policies.”
Cllr Noonan reiterated his call for a cross-party consensus in dealing with the economic crisis in Ireland.
“Everywhere I go, people are asking that political parties put aside their differences and show collective leadership to get us through our difficulties. This has gone beyond punishing Fianna Fáil for their mismanagement of the economy, people are looking for answers, they are looking for hope and we must provide some of that hope,” he concluded.
