Speaking at Science Gallery yesterday evening in Dublin as part of the gallery’s Hack the City exhibition, Gabriel D’Arcy, the head of the utility service Bord na Móna, called for a new national focus, as well as political leadership, for Ireland to take advantage of its natural resources, such as wind and wave power.
Business in the Community Ireland organised last night’s hacking event at Science Gallery at Trinity College Dublin to examine some of the next steps Ireland could take in terms of becoming a greener economy.
Focus areas that were thrashed out last night included future developments in the area of integrated sustainability reporting and future environmental legislation.
Speaking about Ireland’s wave and wind resources, D’Arcy pointed to Ireland’s “significant” natural advantages.
“We need to seriously examine the potentially huge and sustainable benefits that can accrue if we choose to properly develop these assets within a new green economy for Ireland,” said D’Arcy.
However, he said the first step is to generate a public debate about what needs to be done and he called for strong political leadership.
“Public engagement, backed by honest politics, does bring real change, as evidenced by the sea changes which took place to make drinking and driving, and smoking in pubs socially unacceptable,” said D’Arcy.