Tag Archives: Strasbourg

THE importance of Leader funding to communities in County Clare is set to be raised with the European Commission. The EU rural development fund supports community and economic development in towns, villages and rural areas across Europe. The rollout of the 2014-2020 programme has still not been announced by the Department of the Environment. Speaking from Strasbourg, Liadh Ní Riada, MEP, said the funding must be made available to communities. “The Leader programme delivers much-needed investment to community projects and small businesses outside of our big cities. It is a vital support for so many projects that drive local economies and improve the quality of life in rural Ireland. “Many community projects are ready to proceed with projects and have been waiting for almost two years for this funding to come on stream. “The preparation for the 2014-2016 programme have been marked by confusion, mismanagement and silence from government. “It’s not even clear what organisations will be delivering the programme …

The European Parliament has followed the lead given by Clare County Council by calling for a moratorium on fracking. In a close vote in the European Parliament last week, MEPs voted to urge member states “not to authorise any new operations involving the exploration or extraction of unconventional fuels within the EU until this is proven to be safe for the environment, citizens and workers”. MEP Marian Harkin, following the vote in Strasbourg, said “MEPs agreed that the use of fracking entails negative risks and consequences for the climate, the environment and public health and that it threatens the long-term decarbonisation goal of the EU. This was a strong statement by the Parliament but there is a sting in the tail. While the amendment itself was voted through, it was part of an overall report on Energy Security which was rejected by the Parliament.”

CLARE Labour TD, Michael McNamara, will this afternoon chair a parliamentary hearing in Strasbourg on mass surveillance, which will include a live video-link from Moscow with US whistleblower Edward Snowden. The video-link at the hearing on mass surveillance takes placethis afternoon at a session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg. Other participants at the hearing include the former head of Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service Hansjarg Geiger, who wants to regulate intelligence activities between friendly states, and London-based international law professor Douwe Korff. Deputy McNamara said: “Edward Snowden has triggered a worldwide debate on whistleblowers and that debate has fed into our internal discussions here. Given the recent controversies surrounding the practice of whistleblowing in Ireland, I hope to glean some interesting insights from today’s hearing in general. I’ll also be using the session to ask about the ECJ’s recent judgment on the invalidity of the data retention directive in Ireland and the implications it …

FORMER GAA president, Sean Kelly has welcomed as “extremely positive” the majority vote by MEPs today in favour of new measures to regulate the online gambling industry and prevent corruption in sport. The Kerry man, who has long experience as a GAA player, coach and administrator, is particularly worried about how online gambling could impact on junior and underage sports. “The adoption of the report Online Gambling in the Internal Market is very significant for sport,” Mr Kelly said at the European Parliament, Strasbourg. MEPs backed the key elements of the report proposed by the Ireland South MEP to prevent match-fixing and any fraudulent or negative influence that online gambling could have on sport. As a member of the Committee on Culture and Education, Mr Kelly co-signed and tabled a number of key amendments to the report which calls for a strengthening of EU-wide policy.  “Sporting federations and gambling operators should include, in a Code of Conduct, a ban on …