Interview: Iva Pocock, Green Candidate for Tipp North

For the general election, I have decided to conduct a candidate interview series with the candidates seeking to represent Tipperary in the 34th Dáil. I initially hoped to arrange to do proper interviews with as many candidates as possible, but in the interest of giving the candidates equal time and opportunity to respond, I’ve emailed them each ten questions. Nine of the ten questions are the same for all candidates, with one question (#9) tailored to the candidate. All candidates of the same party were given the same tailored question. I will be publishing responses in the order I receive them.

Next up: Iva Pocock, Green candidate for Tipp North.

(Disclosure: Iva Pocock and I are both members of Tipperary Welcomes, a network of community groups and civil organisations working to promote integration and fight for the needs of everyone who calls Tipperary home.)

1. For the benefit of voters who may be unfamiliar with you and your background, please introduce yourself.

I grew up on a farm in Wicklow, and in Dublin, and lived for many years in Sri Lanka and Belgium before settling with my family in Cloughjordan, Co Tipperary. I studied geography and journalism at university. Most of my career, whether as a journalist with the Irish Times or with organisations such as Greenpeace and Trocaire, has been focussed on working to improve people’s lives and to save our precious planet. I’m proud to have been part of the collective effort in creating Cloughjordan ecovillage.

2. Why are you running?

I want to bring my energy, skills and passion to politics in order to make our communities better places for all to live, work and play. I believe the Greens in Government have made a vital start in the transformation to a fairer, climate-friendly way of life. Thousands of homes are now warmer and cheaper to run. We’ve provided more public transport than any other government in recent memory. We’ve kickstarted a solar energy revolution. And for the first time in 30 years carbon emissions are down. There is so much more to do and I believe I would be a strong, common-sense green voice for the people of North Tipperary and North-West Kilkenny.

3. What do you see as the most pressing issues facing North Tipp right now?

Housing, public services such as childcare, healthcare and public transport, the pollution of rivers and lakes, and the looming threat of climate change.

4. What’s an issue in North Tipp you think has been overlooked?

Providing dedicated spaces for teenagers to hang out. Progressive countries provide for their teens. We don’t. 

5. Tell me about a political hero of yours.

Hanna Sheehy Skeffington, the feminist and suffragette. I am in awe of her bravery. I think she’d be dismayed to know that after more than a century less than quarter of our TDs are women. It’s one of the reasons I am running. Don’t vote for me because I am a woman but please take it into consideration. Only four women have ever represented Co Tipperary in Dail Eireann since the foundation of the State. That’s 4 women versus 35 men. 

6. Much has been made about how we should spend the €13 billion windfall from the Apple tax judgement. But the current government has been running surpluses for years, so we already have a lot of money we’re not spending.

How do you think we should be spending our existing surplus?

Building homes in the right places – beside schools and served by public transport. And for recruiting OTs and SLTs. 

7. Every single municipality in Tipp was in the bottom quarter of municipalities in the country for new house builds from 2012 to 2023, with Clonmel in dead last. The number of people on the social housing list has grown to over 3500.

Why do you think Tipp suffers from such chronic undersupply?

Lack of commitment, imagination and drive by the county’s political representatives.

8. If the next government calls a vote to abolish the triple lock on deploying Irish troops abroad, how will you vote?

I will vote against abolishing the triple lock. 

9. The Greens have delivered more since 2020 than they’re often given credit for. Local Link has been a boon to rural communities in particular. But after four years in government, Ireland is still set to miss its 2030 climate targets by huge margins. We’re staring down the barrel of catastrophic failure of the climate, yet we’re building data centres and LNG terminals.

How can the Greens justify this pace of change?

The Climate Action Law was a huge milestone in 2021, achieving legally binding targets to half emissions by 2030, agreed by each sector. 

We are making good progress with decarbonisation of electricity, and the groundwork has been laid for offshore wind – the results of that will be seen in the next decade. Templederry in Tipperary is home to Ireland’s only community owned wind turbine, and we would love to see other communities being able to progress community renewable projects but there are still big barriers in the way, and we need a lot of investment in our electricity grid to allow for the move to decentralised renewable energy generation and energy storage and widening the benefits of the transition. With the Greens scrapping VAT and planning permission restrictions on solar panels, and introducing payments for exporting solar energy to the grid, many families, businesses and communities have invested in rooftop solar, and are reaping benefits of producing their own energy. The Greens in Government have created grants and low-cost loan schemes to insulate homes which save both money and energy, and supported retrofit of social housing which benefits the climate and addresses energy poverty. 

As you mention, on travel, Greens in Government have also increased spending on footpaths and cycle lanes by 600%, making funding available to local authorities – Tipperary County Council now has a dedicated active travel team, and towns like Nenagh are already seeing the results, with better road safety for cyclists and walkers, and projects like the Nenagh Greenway on the way. The Greens in Government have slashed public transport fares by 20% and over 50% for young people, and funded increased bus services, including several new routes, and more frequent services on existing routes, in North Tipperary.

However, as you mention, we are still failing to meet our targets. Although emissions have decreased for the first time in 30 years, they are not decreasing fast enough. That’s why we need to be in the next Government. To ensure our just transition away from fossil fuels continues. 

You mentioned data centres – the huge growth in data centres is putting huge pressure on our electricity grid and on our emissions targets. The Green Party policy on data centres is to apply very strict conditions to any plans for new or expanded data centres – including not running fossil fuel generators on-site, investment in renewables, not using grid power at times when renewables are scarce (through investing in storage), and ensuring no heat is wasted. We have not been able to implement this policy within the current Government due resistance from FF and FG, but if we expand our representation, we will be able to push for more.

You also mentioned LNG – Green Party policy is clearly against all forms of LNG terminals, publicly or privately run. Not only would an LNG terminal be disastrous environmentally and lock us into one of the most damaging fossil fuels, but also an LNG terminal does not even address our energy security needs, and is not even capable of storing gas for any significant period. Our energy security can be addressed through investment in genuinely green energy storage, and in increased electricity interconnection with Europe – the Greens have supported the electricity interconnector with France currently under construction – this is the way forward for energy security, not an LNG terminal which would lock us into the continuous import of fossil fracked gas.

Even as a small party in Government, the Greens have achieved a lot in terms of climate, but you are right, it is by far not enough. We are facing into the sort of climate chaos seen in Spain recently, with millions around the globe facing having their homes made unliveable and their livelihoods unviable, and the huge instability that will bring to our world. The threat of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is very real in the next few decades, which would cause Ireland to freeze over while other parts of the world burn. We need stronger Green representation in Government to address the climate crisis, and treat it as a crisis.

10. Tell me about one thing you’ve done to support a community in North Tipp.

About a year ago I joined the board of Cloughjordan’s community cafe in order to help ensure that it remains as a much-loved and vital resource for the community. Working with a great team we’ve managed to pull the cafe out of the fire and hopefully it can continue.