Environmental debate turns nasty as politicians ratchet up the ugly rhetoric

It comes as a senior EU Commission official expressed the Commission’s concern at Ireland’s “increasingly aggressive stance” against environmental defenders.

Michael Collins (left) said the Environmental Protection Agency report on land use and forestry was a ‘vicious strike against the heart of rural Ireland… and should be incinerated’. The latter phrase was repeated by TD Mattie McGrath (right).

The vitriol being aimed at public representatives was explored on the Late Late Show recently, when TDs Holly Cairns and Neasa Hourigan told of the sustained and often deeply misogynistic abuse they have received.

At the weekend, junior minister Anne Rabbitte described the trauma for her and fellow TD Ciaran Cannon of being pelted with a bag of cow dung at a public meeting in Galway last month. Rabbitte says she is now limiting her public appearances as a result.