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Dear Mr Bird, Correctly or otherwise, it appears to me - more and more, as time moves
on - that the Government and RTE are
working together to keep the People in ignorance regarding the
international United Nations Aarhus Convention Agreement the
Republic of Ireland signed on 25th June 1998 (as
shown at: http://www.unece.org/env/pp/ctreaty.htm ).
As I see it, the failure by Government Ministers to have this extremely
important international agreement "laid before Dail Eireann",
as required under Article 29, 5, 1 of the Constitution
of the Republic of Ireland, is doing untold damage in terms of
"the common good" referred to in the Preamble
of our Constitution.
It would be very much appreciated if you could investigate this matter please,
and report on it publicly in a manner whereby the People can judge for
themselves with regard to the fact that our laws are being altered in
ways which are in complete conflict with the Aarhus Convention Agreement
signed in 1998. (Alterations to our Waste
Management and National Monument Acts made
during, and after, Year 2001 are the main ones I am concerned
about.)
In addition to the consequential legal problems mentioned in the paragraph
immediately above, there is of course the much more basic and much more serious
issue of Government violating the Constitution: which was adapted in a
plebiscite by the People on July 1st 1937
as "the fundamental legal document", and which came into effect
on December 29th 1937. (Reference: Page
6, Sixth Edition, "Principles of Irish Law", by
barrister Dr Brian Doolan).
Further information on this subject can be found in the e-mail copied below
to Deputy Ciarán Cuffe TD (Sent: Friday, November 19, 2004 1:48
PM).
For future reference purposes, and with due regard for the annual
licence fee the People have pay to view and listen to material
produced by RTE (which I feel should not be deliberately misleading by way of
content or of omission), I plan to later place a copy of this e-mail at the
following Internet address:
http://www.constitutionofireland.com/CharlieBirdRTE23Nov2004Email.htm Yours sincerely,
William Finnerty.
+++++++++++++
----- Original Message -----
From:
William
Finnerty
Cc:
Minister Dick Roche TD (Environment & Local Government) ;
Marian Harkin TD & MEP ;
New Inn
Anti-Dump Chairman (Vincent Costello) ;
Kilconnell Anti-Dump Group Secretary (Annette Gilchrist) ;
Turoe Stone Preservation Society ;
An Taisce (Yahoo Discussion Group) ;
Ann Marie Kelly Discussion Group ;
CelticParty(Yahoo) ;
Green Party Ireland (Yahoo Group) ;
GreenNWF@yahoogroups.com ;
Kilconnell Anti-Dump Internet Group ;
Nature Ireland ;
New Inn AntiDump Internet Group ;
Siobhan Nevin's Yahoo Group ;
Tara / Skreen Group ;
Woodlawn House Preservation Society ;
Gearoid Geraghty (Lawyer, Fair Murtagh, Ballinasloe) ;
Martin Egan (Principal Lawyer, Fair Murtagh Law Firm) ;
Law Society (Republic of Ireland) ;
Republic of Ireland Ombudsman (Ms Emily O'Reilly) ;
Stavros
Dimas (EU Commissioner for Environment & Social Affairs) ;
Margot Wallstrom (Vice President of EU Commission) ;
Jose
Manuel Barroso (President of EU Commission) ;
Kofi Annan (Secretary-General of the United Nations)
Sent: Friday, November 19, 2004 1:48 PM
Subject: Minister Roche's reply (re Aarhus Convention Agreement)
Dear Ciaran, Thank you very much for asking the question
regarding the Aarhus Convention Agreement - as you have related
it to me on your web site at Internet location: http://www.ciarancuffe.com/Questions/Q041117E.Aarhus.Convention.htm
Unfortunately, the answer the Minister
for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (Mr Dick Roche TD)
has given you appears extremely evasive to me.
You did not ask Minister Roche about
"RATIFICATION", and I did not wish you to ask him (or anyone else in the
Government) about ratification. The question which concerns me most at the
present times relates directly and solely to Article 29, 5,
1 of the Constitution of the Republic of Ireland,
which reads as follows: " Every international agreement to which
the State becomes a party shall be laid before Dail Eireann.
"
It looks to me as though Minister Roche has
answered an entirely different question to the one you asked him; and
evasiveness of this kind only serves to strengthen my already strong
belief that, in regard to the Aarhus Convention Agreement signed by the Republic
of Ireland in June 1998, the Government really has been violating
Article 29, 5, 1 of the Constitution for several years now: and
that it is continuing to do so on an ongoing basis.
With due regard for the fact the State,
i.e. The Republic of Ireland, can be sued for the wrongful acts of its public
servants, and that there exists an EXTANT WARRANT FOR
MY ARREST which very directly relates to Aarhus Convention
Agreement type environmental issues - which I will shortly be asking Fair
Murtagh (Law Firm) to finally and fully resolve on my behalf - I am
sending Minister Roche a copy of this e-mail so that he can correct me
directly if he feels the extremely serious conclusion I have now
reached (and expressed) in the paragraph immediately above is in any
way incorrect. Alternatively, I am entirely happy
for Minister Roche to contact me indirectly through you (or through any other TD
or Republic of Ireland MEP), should that be preferable to him.
I feel I should point out to all concerned that I
myself have earlier raised the above matter directly with the then Minister for
Environment Martin Cullen TD (and several other senior
politicians) on June 25th 2004; and, that I have
NOT received an answer from ANY of the people concerned.
(Further information on the Aarhus / Article 29 question I
put to Minister Cullen on June 25 2004, can be seen at Internet
location: http://www.finnachta.com/Oireachtas30June2004.htm#Sent ).
I feel I should point out to you as well that
Ms Marian Harkin TD &
MEP has recently sent a Written Question to
the Minister for Foreign Affairs regarding the Aarhus
Convention Agreement issue. (For further information relating to this
please see: http://www.constitutionofireland.com/MarianHarkin.htm )
For future reference purposes, it is my
intention to place a copy of this e-mail at the following Internet
address:
http://www.constitutionofireland.com/CiaranCuffeTD19Nov2004.htm Yours sincerely,
William Finnerty.
++++++++++++++++++++++ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ciarán Cuffe" <ciaran@ciarancuffe.com> To: "'William Finnerty'" <wfinnerty@eircom.net> Sent: Thursday, November 18, 2004 4:56 PM Subject: RE: OIREACHTAS MEMBERS COPY > Everything you need to know > Aarhus Convention Agreement Update William, You'll find the non-committal reply on my website at this link: http://www.ciarancuffe.com/Questions/Q041117E.Aarhus.Convention.htm ++++++++++++++++++
Text from link immediately above
(copied on November 19th 2004):
17th November 2004 Environment Aarhus Convention Ciarán Cuffe To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the reason the international Aarhus Convention Agreement signed on 25 June 1998 has not yet been laid before Dáil Éireann as apparently required under Article 29.5.1 of the Constitution. Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (Mr. Roche): Ireland signed the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters on 25 June 1998. Ireland's progress towards ratification of the Convention is closely aligned with work at EU level. To date, the European Union has adopted two Directives as part of its ratification process for the Convention. These deal with Public Access to Environmental Information (2003/4/EC) and Public Participation in Certain Environmental Decision-Making Procedures (2003/35/EC). Work is continuing in my Department on the transposition into Irish law of these two Directives. Transposition will be required by February 2005 in the case of Directive 2003/4/EC and by June 2005 in the case of Directive 2003/35/EC. With regard to the Access to Justice Pillar of the Convention, recent developments suggest that it is now less clear as to when and if work undertaken at EU level in drafting a Directive to give effect to this Pillar will be completed. Any such Directive would, in due course, be transposed into national law but my Department is exploring other options to enable the Convention to be ratified in the event that no Directive on the Access to Justice Pillar will be agreed. When the above work is completed, the instrument of ratification will be submitted to Government and laid before the Oireachtas in accordance with the requirements of the Constitution. ++++++++++++++++++++++ Ciarán Cuffe TD Dún Laoghaire Green Party Dáil Éireann, Kildare Street, Dublin 2 http://www.CiaranCuffe.com W 01 618 3082 F 01 618 4341
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