Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)

One of the many ironies of Irish political life is that the political party that received most votes in rural communities and spent the longest period in Government since the foundation of the State has been the party that presided over and produced policies that directly contributed to the decline in rural life. The myth has been perpetrated in election after election that the blame for the decline in rural life is somehow to be found elsewhere, among people who cannot make decisions and among political parties that have never held political office. Somehow, the decline in rural life is everyone else's fault but the party that has been most consistently in office since the foundation of this State.

It is a decline for which the word "decimate" is inadequate, because "decimate" in its literal term means the loss of population by 10%. We have seen many rural communities disappear and many whose populations decreased by far more than 10%. No one has been to blame for this. No one has been to blame for the removal of population, which has often been to other urban areas to the extent where the demographic ratio has completely reversed. It was 60% rural and 40% urban at the time of the foundation of the State and it is now 60% urban and 40% rural. No one takes responsibility for the removal of services from rural communities, such as the removal of railway lines, the closure of railway stations, the closure of schools, post offices, and Garda stations. This is somehow a demographic blip. Those who were and are in Government could have put in place the necessary resources, could have produced the appropriate policies and rural Ireland could still be thriving. That it exists at all and still has life is a tribute to those who have chosen to live and economically exist in rural Ireland. Where Government should be giving a lead, where the fine words in the White Paper on rural development could become reality, we find instead that it is those who work in the voluntary sector who take the lead. The recent AGM of Irish Rural Link had very interesting motions and debates. It points a way to a more vibrant rural Ireland. It is a challenge to everyone involved in political life to listen to what such organisations are saying.

I spent three very enjoyable years of my working life with Muintir na Tíre in north and east County Cork. As someone whose volunteer activity in community development up to that time had been strictly urban based, I learned many valuable lessons. The whole definition of commitment in rural communities exists at a different level than can be found in urban communities. Yet the degree of support that should come from State agencies, from the political system and from the Governments that have resources to implement proper policies, still remains lacking. Although it was founded in the 1930s, Muintir na Tíre has been an organisation that has not been allowed to develop. While it has been doing viable work continuously, funding from other sources such as the European Regional Development Fund has been given to new bodies like Leader and the CLÁR programme. Instead of engaging directly with rural communities, the Government has chosen to create parallel structures. This means rural Ireland will be weighed down in bureaucracy rather than the vibrancy that naturally exists there. The challenge for the Minister is to respond for the Government tonight.

Rural Ireland is in need of a different definition. It is no longer the rural Ireland of small farm holdings. Agri-business is now on a larger scale and is of an international dimension. Yet, instead of encouragement, the best that can be hoped for are policies that will force people involved in those enterprises to stand still. The Government is badly falling down on the economies of scale. For vibrant rural communities to exist, there has to be an understanding that appropriate levels of support need to be given on a long term basis. Unfortunately we have a Government with a philosophy of a "kill or be killed" attitude to economics. It is all about making the largest possible amount of money in the quickest possible time and forming the largest possible structures that will allow one to do that. We see that all too clearly in our financial services industry at the moment. Instead of encouraging viable alternatives to give people a choice in that area, such as the credit union movement which is one of the successes of rural life, we find ourselves embedded in the mire that is the Irish financial services industry in 2004.

I would like to hear an admission from the Government on where things have gone wrong. The Government recently announced the re-opening of rail infrastructure for the first time in the history of the State. A decision has been made to extend the Cork to Midleton railway line. That is a very good decision. However, it is a decision that will add to the suburban development of the greater Cork area. If the Government was serious about implementing an infrastructure policy that will develop rural communities, it would give a strong signal on the western rail corridor. There was a time at the turn of the 20th century when Ireland had the most railway lines per square mile in the world. Yet the major party of this Government claimed with glee in the 1960s that progress was being made by closing these lines. That very act was the death knell of many rural communities. The railway station was followed by the schools, followed by the Garda station and the post office.

Instead of taking responsibility for these failed policies, the Government looks for bogeymen. It blames my party, a party that has never been in Government but believes in rural repopulation, rural development and in restoring services that should not have been taken away. Yet it never takes any responsibility for the services that were removed under its own remit. It blames voluntary bodies which occasionally might get it wrong in their emphasis, but have no decision making remit on what happens in rural communities. Those decisions are made by local Government, those decisions are informed by policies and legislation put forward by national Government. Until we have a political party dominating the political system that is prepared to take responsibility for how rural life has diminished over the past 80 years, we will not see real rural development. We will unfortunately see more of the same and the Ireland of the 21st century will be more urbanised and suburbanised and we will be the poorer for it.

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