Ireland: Senior Green Party member Patricia McKenna lashes party leadership as councillor Chris O’Leary resigns

As the 2009 Local Elections approach internal tensions within the Green Party are once more coming to the boil. There is nothing better than an election to concentrate the minds of local councillors. No better people to sniff the political wind. Today Cork City Council councillor Chris O’Leary resigned from the party in protest over its role in Government. Cllr O’Leary will contest the local elections in June as an Independent.

Dublin City Council member Bronwen Maher said today that she was "Very unhappy" and was reviewing her position. Speaking on Newstalk radio, she said:

“I have been very unhappy and I am reviewing my position. There’s a lot of concern in the Green Party that we’re not achieving in government. We’ve been there for eighteen months, now, what have we achieved?”

There is strong speculation that she will announce her resignation at a news conference tomorrow.
Meanwhile former MEP and member of the party’s national executive Patricia McKenna -no fan of the coalition deal with FF- has attacked the leadership. She claims that the leadership wishes to maintain the coalition arrangement with FF irrespective of the cost. McKenna is regarded as the conscience of the party and carries a heavy political clout. It is an open secret that the party leadership has been unhappy with McKenna who adopted an anti coalition stance.

U-turns on the use of Shannon Airport by the US Military, the co-location of private hospitals on the grounds of public hospitals, the destruction of the Tara Valley and on incineration had already begun to demoralise the grassroots of the party. Cutbacks in health and education have further sapped morale. The party has achieved precious little in government. With further massive cut backs in the offing it is highly likely that many branch members will resign or will just melt away.

The Green Party is essentially a campaigning party- more suited to opposition than government. Much of its support is anti establishment. There is massive tension between the Realos (pragmatists) and the Fundis who are idealists and are prepared to cling to fundamental principles at all costs.
The internal contradictions within the party appear insuperable.

The Green Party is now trapped. If Green Ministers-John Gormley and Eamon Ryan- turn chicken and cut and run, their credibility is shattered. On the other hand continued participation in government may cripple the party organization. The Green ship now sails for the rocks of political destruction.
Meanwhile opposition parties such as FG and Labour prepare to hoover up disillusioned Green votes.

Irish Independent article on Councillors Earnings is not the full story

Today’s Irish Independent carries a feature on the payments and expenses of county and city councillors. It is carried under the heading: REVEALED - The councillors earning up to €77,000 a year.
This has got the inevitable response at local level especially here in Co. Waterford where irate callers and texters to WLR (Waterford local radio) vented their spleen. No doubt this should push up newspaper sales for the Independent. Certainly there must be accountability for all public expenditure. In this respect the article serves a useful function. However this is not the full story.

I am no apologist for councillors. Undoubtedly some under perform but in general most are very hard working. They have no fixed hours.
The general public expects a good service twenty- four hours a day. People have become more and more demanding and impatient. Consequently many councillors work excessive hours. Much of the work is hidden and not evident to most voters. They are generally closer to the electorate than TDs. The first recourse for help is usually to the county or city councillor and not to the TD. Indeed it is not unusual for county councillors to displace sitting TDs in General Elections. This proves conclusively that these councillors have been effective at local level.

Expenses are not payment. They are incurred for necessary council work such as telephone use, transport et al. Surely we cannot expect councillors to be out of pocket. Mayors incur huge expenses. They must be reimbursed for these.

I think that it is most unfair to lump expenses and salary together. It gives the impression that local public representatives are grossly overpaid.
If we require representation at local authority level we must be prepared to pay for it.
In general in this time of recession it is incumbent on councillors to cut back on the number of conferences attended. These should be dropped from schedules unless absolutely necessary. Some worthwhile savings could be made here.
This caveat aside I think we owe a debt of gratitude to the overwhelming majority of local authority representatives.