Irelands Opportunity-Peak Everything

[Heorditas]

Just wondering what FF would have to do to walk out of Goverment ?

[...]


what would it take ? A booby trap ?

It might be something more "trivial" than that - the drink driving bill might get rid of them! It will merely highlight where their priorities lie!

[wombat]

I wish Brian Cowan had paid attention in science class, then he would recognise the opportunity that is begging to be exploited.

Even history, he would have seen that Ardnacrusha was started in a time when the country was devestated and broke, 5 years after they had killed each other, surely a time of greater despair than now. Its interesting, Noel Browne lived for years on his reputation as the man who had eradicated TB, whereas McGilligan, the minister who backed Ardnacrusha is long forgotten.

[LDF]

The last part of David Mc Williams series Addicted to Money was aired last Sunday

RTÉ Television - Programmes - Factual - Addicted to Money

as someone who has studied this subject for a long time, I was disappointed that the opportunities for Ireland were not explored and the responses to the programme on his blog show a complete blindness to the certain advantages that Ireland has in this new era

Addicted to Money: Part 3 – Peak Everything | David McWilliams

Even James Lovelock agrees that Ireland is in clover over the coming decades, why are we so blind as a nation to our strenghts

I think the McWilliams programme was made for RTE, Channel 4 and an Australian TV company. The programme was never meant to be specifically focused on Ireland.

I agree with your points on the many natural advantages Ireland has in the area of renewable energy. I would add another one - our oldest industry - agriculture.

Once this recession is over, food inflation will kick in again thanks to increased global population and greater demand for dairy products in India and China.

I think our own farmers should be encouraged to expand their businesses and purchase farmland in Eastern Europe. We need to reduce our farmers dependence on dwindling european handouts and encourage them to rediscover their entrepreneurial spark. I think there is one Irish company involved in this area already - Origin Enterprises.

[rubensni]

why are we so blind as a nation to our strenghts

Because our politicans are more concerned with the local then the global. Try explaining global dimming to Mattie McGrath...

[rubensni]

I think our own farmers should be encouraged to expand their businesses and purchase farmland in Eastern Europe. We need to reduce our farmers dependence on dwindling european handouts and encourage them to rediscover their entrepreneurial spark. I think there is one Irish company involved in this area already - Origin Enterprises.

Is that not neocolonialism? I mean just because the land is owned by a company as opposed to a landlord doesn't mean it's any less touchy for the locals.

[Heorditas]

I think our own farmers should be encouraged to expand their businesses and purchase farmland in Eastern Europe. We need to reduce our farmers dependence on dwindling european handouts and encourage them to rediscover their entrepreneurial spark. I think there is one Irish company involved in this area already - Origin Enterprises.

They constantly complain about the middle man eating into their margins.
Why don't they pool together and open their own co-op style supermarkets and sell their produce themselves? It's not as if there's a shortage of retail space and I'm sure people would shop there rather than the local foreign-owned supermarket if the price was right.

[LDF]

Is that not neocolonialism? I mean just because the land is owned by a company as opposed to a landlord doesn't mean it's any less touchy for the locals.

I think the problem in many Eastern European countries is they never developed modern agri-management skills due to years of communism rule. Irish farmers buying land in these countries and exporting there skills could help local farmers develop their own skills.

It depends on how you look at it I suppose.

[LDF]

They constantly complain about the middle man eating into their margins.
Why don't they pool together and open their own co-op style supermarkets and sell their produce themselves? It's not as if there's a shortage of retail space and I'm sure people would shop there rather than the local foreign-owned supermarket if the price was right.

Agreed. Irish farmers are their own worst enemy. They seem more concerned with defending their current position and not the long-term future. The fact is a global trade deal will eventually be agreed and farmers in Brazil will be allowed to export their produce to Irish supermarkets. Irish farmers need to prepare for that instead of wishing it away.

[fiannafailure]

Agreed. Irish farmers are their own worst enemy. They seem more concerned with defending their current position and not the long-term future. The fact is a global trade deal will eventually be agreed and farmers in Brazil will be allowed to export their produce to Irish supermarkets. Irish farmers need to prepare for that instead of wishing it away.

At a recent presentation of the Spirit of Ireland energy project, to IFA members in the west of Ireland, it was very apparent that the small farmers of Ireland are very open to new ideas on how to enhance their income and the viability of their farms. What is probably needed to get your idea off the ground is a plan that doesn't depend on subsidies to be viable.

[rubensni]

I think the problem in many Eastern European countries is they never developed modern agri-management skills due to years of communism rule. Irish farmers buying land in these countries and exporting there skills could help local farmers develop their own skills.

It depends on how you look at it I suppose.

Ummm, it's a recipe for disaster. Could you imagine if Tesco bought up County Carlow, knocked all the hedgerows and then offered to re-hire the farmers who worked there for generations? There would be a revolution.

As for the modern agri-maanagement skills, Lenin and Stalin attempted to "modernise" agriculture in their day too. Collectivisation and mechinisation was the name of the game. What's in vogue now? Collectivisation and mechinasation, but the farm is owned by a company, rather then the state and is as equally environmentally destructive, if not more so. Economies of scale are the name of the game, and have been for at least 100 years. The only truly modern innovation is genetic modification, and no Irish farms have any expertise in that area.

Meanwhile, the Irish middle classes are buying Fairtrade bananas and coffee so that the producers in Africa and South America can actually run sustainable family farms. We do the same here, the CAP cushons our farmers from the reality of capitalism.