Protecting Rural Ireland: Motion
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-15
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Nessa Cosgrove (LAB), Labour Panel

I too know how interested the Minister is in rural Ireland and in his brief. I cannot understand why the Government would not support the motion, either. It is a fantastic motion. A lot of us are representatives of rural areas. It is great to have everything in together. I do not think there is anything negative about it. I fail to understand why the Government has an amendment at all. The motion could easily have been supported.
The motion could not state the reality of life more clearly, "Rural communities are central to the social, economic, cultural and environmental well-being of the State". My constituency is very representative of that, made up of small towns in Sligo, Leitrim and south Donegal. Under the national planning framework, all towns with a population of fewer than 10,000 people are classed as rural settlements meaning that every town, village and settlement in Sligo, Leitrim and south Donegal with the exception of Sligo town is a rural settlement. That is indicative of most of our constituencies. As a nation that is what we are made up of. It takes me ten minutes to walk into town one way and if I walk the other, I can walk to agricultural land in ten minutes. Urban settings rely on rural settings and vice versa. There is nothing in this motion I would not support.
I know it is not the Minister's brief but I am concerned about the approach the Government has taken to the environment in general. We are not transitioning to renewable energies as quickly as we should. Independents who represent rural areas are supporting the Government. In an area like mine, there is a real threat from LNG development. I am surprised, in light of the national planning framework and the critical infrastructure Bill, that environmental measures will be overlooked. That is my main worry about rural Ireland. Places like Leitrim can be seen as a sacrificial zone because we have really good natural resources. Already 20% of its land is covered with forestry compared with the national average or 11.6%, mainly non-native Sitka spruce. There is exploitation of gold mining, fracking and giant windmills. We have spoken about wind energy. They are unsuitable. There is a proposed development in Leitrim again on Dough Mountain. It will be built on peatland so there is huge objection. The countermotion refers to local involvement. It is very easy for a planner in Dublin to look at where wind farms should be if there are not a lot of dwellings nearby but that often overlooks the impact these giant wind farms have. No one is against renewable energy. We all need to transition to that but it is it about being careful about not developing them in areas where they will really affect not only quality of life but also the environment with disasters like landslides, which are a big concern in Leitrim.
So many grassroots groups have come together. Rural Ireland is at its best when groups come together. There are Love Leitrim, Save Leitrim and Treasure Leitrim. They are all concerned people living in the local areas who work closely with Government representatives and with the Opposition, with all groups, and want to bring people with them. Again, that is why I cannot understand why this motion is not fully supported. I too was at the IFA submission event. It was said twice to me that trust is being lost between politicians and farmers, which we all need to take on board as political representatives.
I am delighted to support the motion. In this House, we spend a lot of time talking about rural Ireland. It is wonderful to have it all in one specific document.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-07-15/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:52:16+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-15