Bradley Bytes – a sort of political column with Dara Bradley

Two Green Party members in the ruling pact on Galway City Council approved a local authority budget for 2023 that diverted money away from an investment in green transport.

The draft budget set out by Chief Executive Brendan McGrath and his financial team allocated €240,000 for ‘engineering improvements’, including a new electric fleet of vehicles for the local authority.

Green Party Councillors Martina O’Connor and Niall Murphy voted with their ruling pact colleagues (Fine Gael, Labour and Independents) to spend this money on projects other than the electric fleet changeover. Councillors outside the pact (Fianna Fáil, Social Democrat and Independents) backed it too.

McGrath had earmarked the money for an electric fleet to help meet Government targets to reduce greenhouse gases by 51% by 2030. Reducing fossil fuels through electric vehicles was one intervention that would allow the City Council to play its part for climate action, he said.

“Galway City Council has shown its commitment in reducing our reliant (sic) on fossil fuels and reducing our CO2 emission by purchasing eight fully electric vehicles in 2021.

“A further 12 EV vans will be added to our fleet in 2023. Trials are also underway in using alternative fuel oils in our road sweepers to improve the carbon footprint of our fleet,” the CE said.

That aspiration has been jeopardised by councillors’ cuts to money earmarked for electric vehicles next year.

The rationale, apparently, was that there is such a high demand for EVs nationally, Galway City Council might not be able to source the vehicles to upgrade its electric fleet and, therefore, the money would not be spent at all.

But where stands those emissions’ targets now that the ruling pact including the Green Party has diverted money earmarked for electric vehicles to other projects?

Not a good look for a party that was lecturing others during the Green Party convention in Athlone last weekend.

Photo: Niall Murphy of the Green Party – a member of the Council’s ruling pact that diverted money earmarked for electric vehicles to other projects.
This is a shortened preview version of this column. For more Bradley Bytes, see the December 2 edition of the Galway City Tribune. You can buy a digital edition HERE.