The Government has been urged to adopt a new focus on Ireland’s local economies. Over 250 participants at an event at Cork’s Millennium Hall last week, organised by Claiming Our Future in association with PlanBetter, heard that this is “the key level from which to develop alternatives to current economic policy”.
In addition, the conference was told that specific programmes were urgently needed to maximise locally generated products and services, including food and energy, while also protecting the environment.
“The current economic structure is based on false accounting, serving neither the environment nor society,” said Niall Crowley of Claiming Our Future. “It is built on resource misuse, high levels of unemployment and diminished public services.
“It is an economy where commitments made to address climate change are reneged on. This is why we need build support for an alternative.”
The conference also warned that the search for economic growth as a resolution to the current difficulties would surely lead us into an “environmental crisis”.
Participants highlighted the need to robustly regulate growth in order “to ensure environmental sustainability and to achieve social cohesion”.
There were also calls for political reform that would accommodate wider participation of citizens in the future decision making of the country.
James Nix of PlanBetter said: “We need alternatives to the current approach to economic policy, and the State has a key role to play in this.
“It should enhance local economies, further develop the services it provides, and regulate the national economy to stop it damaging the environment and society.”
