People in the Midlands are embracing opportunities to regenerate bogs for tourism and to generate renewable energy, according to Senator Pippa Hackett, Minister of State for Land
Use and Biodiversity.
“They want to bring tourism to the area, they want to work in renewable energy, and they want to create ‘people-first, town-centre-first' futures for towns like Portlaoise and Tullamore,” she said.
Speaking in the Seanad, Senator Hackett said nostalgic memories could not be allowed to hold the Midlands back – and she accused fellow politicians of wanting to keep counties like Laois and Offaly in the past, forever suppressed, for a few populist, self-serving headlines.
“As a progressive, pragmatic, green politician, I refuse to accept the destructive story that decarbonising this important region means we are losing something valuable,” she said. “We are not and I’m calling that out – because what we are actually doing is gaining.”
Senator Hackett said the younger generation is well aware of the need for change.
“The fact is our children will not be heating their homes with turf or coal, or even oil or gas. They will be using electricity and that vital energy will be generated from renewable sources – of which we have an abundance. Our children know this. They are environmentally and socially aware. As policy makers and legislators, it is our responsibility to be so, too.”
She said she was focused on a clean, green future for the next generation.
“And when they want to come home, come home they will...to good jobs, to a place where they can settle and rear their families, and to an area which has rejuvenated itself into the vibrant and modern region it deserves to be."