THE Dutch ambassador to Ireland has praised the people of Offaly for their commitment to sustainable energy and stressed that the Kingdom of the Netherlands aims to build ever stronger links with the county.

Ambassador Adriaan Palm arrived in Tullamore on Monday morning and had a meeting with representatives of Offaly County Council, followed by talks with Tullamore Chamber.

Mr Palm’s visit then took him to Clara where Dutch native Jan Ravensberg has established one of Ireland’s leading horticultural enterprises at Ashmount.

“It is most important to reach out to the people of Offaly,” said Mr Palm. “To see how the county is developing, what the challenges are and where we can work together.”

He added: “I am ambassador to Ireland. Whereas it is very easy to stay in Dublin and spend my day fully there, there is a big difference between Dublin and Ireland so you do have to reach out, especially post-Covid, you really need to know what’s going on.”

His visit this week also coincides with Europe Day (May 9) and he took the opportunity to stress the importance of links across the continent in the 50th anniversary year of Ireland’s accession to the European Union.

“You have to see how does it work in practice,” said the ambassador. “When I met the Offaly County Council this morning… we talked a lot about sustainability, everything from wind energy to solar energy, [the] change of people’s mind, the change from the peatlands and basically from peat energy to renewable energy and the peatlands as a tourism destination.”

He discussed the role of EU funds in ensuring a just transition for Offaly from a peat-based economy and stressed: “What people may not always realise is that the EU helps to make the country better.”

As honorary patron of the Irish Peatlands Preservation Council he said he had a personal interest in the transformation taking place in Offaly, partly facilitated by Bord na Mona exit from peat cutting.

“I very much respect the change that has been made in such a short time and the big impact of the decision of Bord na Mona. But also how people picked it up,” he said.

“When you say that 5% of Irish wind energy is produced here in Offaly, those kind of numbers show that there is a commitment here. But I also understand how people say ‘I do want now to get some return from it for myself’. That’s logical.”

He advised people to look to their own homes and see what can be done, especially in terms of solar power.

He believes Irish Government aid towards the transition to more sustainable housing is important, but made the point that switching to solar for domestic dwellings can be viable by itself, especially because of the rise in energy prices.

He mentioned the experience of the Netherlands: “There is not a single country in Europe that has as much private solar on houses. Maybe it’s the combination of the element of sustainability and the element that it’s financially attractive. If you can get your money back in six years, everybody will say, ‘Ok, well, I will invest in it’.”

In terms of trade in goods, Ireland is in the Netherlands’ top six countries and Mr Palm said that Dutch supermarkets have beef labelled “Irish green field” on the shelves.

The Dutch embassy in Dublin is expanding with the addition of agricultural and digitalisation officers and the ambassador (pictured below) believes digitalisation is crucial, as it is taking place across multiple sectors.

Ireland can also learn from the changes in Dutch agriculture where a farmer population who almost all now have third level education is changing its approach, shifting the focus from quantity of food to quality. The Netherlands is currently the world’s second largest exporter of food after the US.

The climate crisis presents challenges to farmers but a collaborative approach will get results. “You have to look into joint solutions where government, business and environmental organisations work together to ensure that we reach our carbon targets. Because we need to do that.”

Born in 1965 near The Hague, Mr Palm remembers a Europe where there was much less international travel and he was “privileged” to venture to the UK, France and Switzerland when he was young.

In the 1980s he remembers hearing about the Troubles in Ireland but saw another side of Ireland with the success of Sean Kelly and Stephen Roche in cycling and then Ireland’s “rise as a football country”.

He said “active travel” is critical in the future and is glad Offaly County Council has set money aside for measures to promote it.

“I remember how I went to school as an eight-year-old, cycling by myself, 1.8km, I remember the distance very well… Did I ever have any problems? No.”

Getting more Irish children cycling to foster an active travel culture for the future is a long-term aim.

More immediately, Mr Palm displayed his knowledge of Offaly’s sporting affairs by congratulating the Offaly senior hurlers on their Joe McDonagh Cup win over Kerry at the weekend and he was aware they now await the identity of their opponents.

“Good luck in the hurling final!” he smiled.