Athlone weekend convention a steady-as-you go event for party now focused on Coalition policy priorities
There you go — the story of Ireland over the last quarter of a century. The decision is followed by delay, followed by objection followed by delay, followed by laborious planning and consultation process, followed by delay, followed by a change of Government, followed by a change of plan, followed by delay.
Much more delivery is needed on public transport — BusConnects in particular. Electric vehicle take-up could be more and the infrastructure is lagging behind. Retrofitting has had a pitiably slow start, given that the aim is to get 500,000 homes done. In most ways, it is a steady-as-you-go convention. The programme reflects the party’s priorities: climate change; childcare; arts, culture, animal welfare and sustainability. There are no motions for policy change or no agenda items that will foment division. Most attention will be on the leaders’ speeches tomorrow evening.
The evidence suggests, however, that people are happy to make changes only until the moment they have to make actual adaptations