"Green" policies are destroying this country

it's as likely to happen as this :

The Atlantic corridor or Atlantic motorway is a proposed road project in Ireland. The scheme, announced in 2005, was intended to link Waterford in the South-East to Letterkenny in the North-West via motorway or dual carriageway by 2015

I'd say that map is out of date now too. For starters the Mullingar - Athlone line is a greenway now.

On the motorway talk, I think we're nearly good for motorways. Limerick to Cork should be built. That gives a motorway all the way to Tuam from Cork. The M4 and M3 could be extended on a bit more and the M11 should go down to Wexford Town

The first bit about nepotism I've reposted to the British Politics thread as that is interesting in its own right.

As for British net-zero targets they are just paying lip-service and I suspect before long they will even drop that virture-signalling. They are squarely going for energy security using the current carbon-based infrastructure.

In practice I am not sure the UK Labour party would be any different but this is off-topic for here.

It is important to frequently mention the cost/benefit analyses one should do for any project. Not only for companies who by rule have to (shareholders) but also by state/ governments (stakeholders) who used to do it but increasingly aren't or ignore it.

An essential important thing to remember is that solar and wind can only produce (unstable/intermittent) electricity. It also cannot actually make anything like a physical product. So, if we stop using hydro carbons and nuclear energy, push for zero emissions, you are basically saying you are against any modern physical product and you want to go back to pre industrial times and start cutting down trees and using dung for fuel like around 30% (i think) of the present population is still doing. That is the ultimate reality check. Now, if the greens can come up with a sensible solution i am happy to hear it..

You cannot have your cake and eat it too. You either have a modern industrial society or a pre industrial one. Which one would you pick? I and most people will chose the former. The discussion is really about what economic model will suit most people..

The UK polls would probably reflect results here if similar was carried out. Most people would support getting to net zero, and those same people would want someone else to carry the cost. This is one reason I don't think the greens will be wiped out at the next election. Their voters all want changes, but the changes that will happen aren't directly impacting them (land use change, herd reductions, wind/solar farms in neighbourhoods). The things that would affect them like more public transport and the like they already have, so more is better. It's not impacting them. However, once it starts to impinge on their lives, they, like everyone else are up in arms. Look at the plans to make gardens smaller for buses, more densely populated housing/apartments in neighborhoods.

Why has it to be fixed? Rail to population centres makes sense. Rail to rural locations doesn't. That means you won't get rail to huge sections of the country.

Now, that isn't true really about towns booming due to a rail line. I can think of a few towns in the midlands that have a rail line, and a station if not in the town just a couple of km away and all those places aren't booming in any sense of the word, and if there is a population rise it's not due to the rail line being nearby. Look at Roscrea, Cloughjordan, Birdhill, Templemore, towns close to Ballybrophy station), Monasterevin, Bagnelstown, Thomastown.

The large portion of Green TDs are in The Pale and those that aren't got in by skin of teeth on the last count. Means they can act as a regionalist party which will help them.