Ireland: Reasons why Greens should not leave Government at a NAMA Conference

It is scarcely surprising that-as of now- four Green Party constituency organisations have passed motions calling for a special convention on NAMA, the “bad bank” being set up by the Government to buy toxic loans from lenders.
A convention will be held by the Greens before the legislation goes into the Dáil on September 16th if a similar motion is passed by one more constituency organisation.

The party suffered a shattering reverse in the June local government elections and now holds only three seats nationwide. This was exacerbated by the abysmal performance of Dan Boyle and Deirdre De Burca in the Euro elections. Independent Patricia McKenna-who left the party- secured a higher vote than the official Green candidate Deirdre De Burca in the Dublin Euro Constituency. Party fortunes are at a low ebb.

Some observers suspect that the Green Party may be searching for an exit strategy. Such a conference might offer such a possibility. Superficially this might appear to be an attractive option. However if considered at a deeper level it would be- in all probability -highly unwise for the following reasons:
(1) In general, electorates tend to punish small political parties, which precipitate elections.
(2) The electorate would view such a move with the utmost cynicism. The Greens would be perceived as being more interested in saving their own political skins.
(3) They would be viewed as a party unsuitable for government and incapable of taking unpopular decisions. Greens would be labelled cowards. A vote for a Green TD would be a wasted vote.
(4) An immediate election would cost the party its full complement of seats.
(5) Remaining in Government ensures that the party has 6 TDs and 2 Senators until the 2012 General Election and offers it some prospect of surviving.
If it loses its TDs in an early election it is FINISHED as a political force. No doubt party leader John Gormley is well aware of the hostile reception awaiting Green and FF candidates at the doorsteps in an early election campaign. It is a case of hang together or hang separately. Would turkeys vote for Christmas? The Greens are now trapped in government by the need for self preservation.

Ireland: Green Party faces wipe out in any early General Election

Ireland's Green Party has been wiped out in the local elections. It lost all its seats in Dublin and has just three seats in the rest of the country. In the months prior to the local and Euro elections the party was damaged by the resignations of two councillors, Bronwen Maher (Dublin City Council) and Chris O'Leary (Cork City Council). They were strongly critical of the direction the leadership had taken the party since going into government with Fianna Fail in 2007. This was followed by the resignation of former MEP Patricia McKenna who contested the Euro elections-in Dublin- as an independent and outpolled the official Green candidate Deirdre De Burca.
Deirde De Burca demanded a recount and lost the party further credibility.
Chris O'Leary contested the local elections as an independent and was reelected. Last weeks ugly smear directed at Enda Kenny backfired.

Tonight on RTE defeated Green candidate Niall Ó Brolcháin -from-Galway-mentioned the possibility of crossing the floor and joining FG and Labour in a new government. This suggestion was promptly rubbished by Pat Rabbitte and Phil Hogan who stressed the necessity of a general election to ensure that a new government had a mandate. Quite simply the Greens are caught between a rock and a hard place. Continued participation in government is damaging the party. However if the Greens were to precipitate a general election the party would in all probability lose its full complement of TDs.The Greens would go the way of the PDs.
The Green Party has no option but to remain in government and hope that the tide turns in the next 2-3 years.
Surely Green turkeys will not vote for Christmas.

Dublin: Patricia McKenna ditches the Green Party to run as an Independent in Euro Elections -huge split opens up

Patricia McKenna has confirmed, in an interview with Hot Press, that she’s quitting the Green party to stand as an independent Euro candidate.

The decision of Patricia McKenna to leave the Green Party was inevitable. Since the vote to enter government with FF in 2007, there has been a sizeable rump- within the party- which has been uneasy as Green ministers jettison more and more core beliefs. In essence the realos within the party have outmaneuvered the fundis. It is an open secret that some in the leadership wished to push McKenna out of the party. This is borne out by today's reaction of Senator Deirdre De Burca party candidate for the Euro elections in Dublin. She said:

“The pity about Patricia McKenna’s move is that she did not do it at least a year ago and spare herself and her party colleagues a lot of time-wasting and strife,” the Senator said. “In my view she is addicted to the politics of opposition and appears reluctant to move beyond that comfort zone,” she said. “In my view she is addicted to the politics of opposition and appears reluctant to move beyond that comfort zone,” she said. “The Green Party is committed to the constructive politics of engagement and bringing about real change from within.”

McKenna is a conviction politician who believes that core principles must be preserved at all costs. Whilst many of her policy positions are too extreme she is a politician of the highest integrity. A series of party u-turns have become too much for her. The party has u-turned on incineration, the use of Shannon Airport by the US military, GM feed, social housing and the Shell to Sea dispute.

I feel embarrassed about being a member of the Green Party," McKenna told Hot Press, "because of what we said in the past and the promises we made, which we failed to deliver on. I just knew that I couldn’t run under a Green Party ticket and pretend that everything was alright because I’d be lying."
Asked by Hot Press if she believes the Greens have sold out, she answers unequivocally: "I do”.

The Green Party has already lost Dublin City councillor Bronwen Maher and Cllr Chris O'Leary in Cork-both of whom have resigned.Increasingly its organization has begun to crumble.

McKenna is a formidable candidate with a strong record. She made political history in the 1994 European Elections when she topped the poll in Dublin and became Irelands first Green MEP. She spent ten years as an MEP.
She narrowly lost her seat in the Euro 2004 election. She is a strong media performer and will certainly damage the very slight prospects of Senator Deirdre De Burca. Indeed she may outpoll De Burca. This would be the ultimate humiliation for the Green Party. It is not beyond the bounds of possibility that she may yet lead a new party.

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.

ESRI and Green Party Living in Environmental Cloud Cuckoo Land: Time to accept the real causes of Greenhouse Effect

The Economic and Social Research Institute suggests that Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions will have increased by nearly 5% in 2007.
Professor Richard Tol of the ESRI says heavy carbon taxes must be introduced in the medium term.

Is Richard Tol living in cloud cuckoo land? Ireland has seen a massive rise in electricity, gas, diesel and petrol prices. That is tantamount to the introduction of a carbon tax.
Industry and agriculture are struggling under the strain of government-imposed regulation and crippling energy prices. The economy cannot withstand such economic lunacy. The Green Party as well as the ESRI wish to deliver the coupe de grace.

Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Eamon Ryan seems to assume that Ireland can save the planet. It is time for the Green Party to face facts. It is pointless living in an environmental dream world.
India and China have no intention of reducing their carbon emissions. Indeed they intend to increase them. Meanwhile some Western countries crippled by carbon taxes will be expected to compete with them. It is not on Mr Ryan. You are living in Fantasy Land.
It is indisputable that global warming is taking place. However the causes of global warming can be disputed.

Climate change is caused mainly by variations in the tilt of the earths axis and in its orbit around the sun. This is cyclical. Variations in the sun’s energy output is another cause. There are cycles in sunspot activity.
Sunspots have all but disappeared in recent years. When this happened 400 years ago it signalled the start of the Little Ice Age.

It is likely that we may face such an eventuality-sooner rather than later. The human contribution to green house gases contributes 0.25% to the Greenhouse Effect.
Since the end of the last Ice Age the earth’s temperatures have risen by 16 degrees Fahrenheit.
Time for some realism from the Geen Party and the ESRI.

Expense Allowance Abuse by MEPs (Alleged)

Hans-Peter Martin and RTL in the fight against alleged abuse of expense allowances:
A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) in Brussels earns approx. 14,700 euros per month (~£11,587), according to this RTL Report (in German with English subtitles). How much the MEPs have to work (or don't work) for their €14,700 is the subject of this on-site RTL investigation in Brussels. The video is about MEPs who sign in on attendance lists and then allegedly disappear immediately for their weekend.

Independent Irish MEP Kathy Sinnott appears in this video. She explains clearly that she has already been working seven hours up to seven o'clock. The Munster MEP warns him "Be very careful about using this and what you report about me". In actual fact Kathy Sinnott is not abusing the scheme. She explained clearly on RTE radio-in an interview with Myles Dungan- this morning that she can actually verify her claims to have worked up to seven o'clock.

200 jobs at risk at Cappoquin Chickens as feed costs and labelling loopholes hit hard - Creed

The following is the text of a statement issued by FG on the financial situation of Cappoquin Chickens. It is full of common sense and has realistic proposals to address the problems faced by Ireland's poultry industry. Is any one in Government circles listening? Will the Government stand by and allow the destruction of the poultry industry which can have a bright future if buttressed by realistic Government policies.This Government has adopted stone age Green Party policy on the importation of GM feed. It has also failed to address labelling loopholes.

FG Statement:

Fine Gael Agriculture Spokesman, Michael Creed TD, today (Thursday) raised in the Dáil the financial situation of Cappoquin Chickens which is under examinership. Deputy Creed said spiralling input costs and competition from cheap imports, which can take advantage of flawed labelling laws, were eating into farm profits and threatening agri-sector jobs.This Government has adopted idiotic Green Party policy on the importation of GM feed

"200 people are employed at Cappoquin Chickens and for them the news that an interim examiner has been appointed will be devastating. The wider implications for the agri-food industry are alarming. "The Government has failed to heed warnings on the impact of rising feed costs on the poultry sector and it is now clear just how hard these costs are hitting agri-business. CSO figures this week showed all farm inputs increasing in cost, with feed up 20%.

"The fact is daft Government policy on the importation of GM feed, introduced as a sop to the Green Party, is costing the industry up to €160 million a year. The new Agriculture Minister will be keenly aware of the closure of Grove Turkeys in Monaghan just a few months ago and, with Cappoquin now in trouble, he must undo the damage done by his Government's GM policy shift.

"We are also seeing the real impact of quality Irish product being undermined by loopholes in our labelling laws. The 'substantial transformation' loophole allows produce which has had minimal processing in Ireland, like the addition of breadcrumbs, to be passed off as Irish. Coupled with mislabelling this means Irish produce and cheap imports are not competing on a level playing field.

"Fine Gael's campaign on labelling laws has fallen on deaf ears in Government so far but the plight of Cappoquin Chickens is a grim wake-up call. As well as the closure of the 'substantial transformation' loophole and the tightening and strict enforcement of existing labelling laws, Fine Gael wants to see the introduction of a Green Ireland label. This single, recognisable brand would help Ireland capitalise in overseas and domestic markets on its reputation as a green, healthy, quality food producer and help secure a premium price for Irish produce and Irish farmers."

Red C poll shows little change in party strength.

A new opinion poll shows that half of those surveyed no longer trust Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to run the country after hearing his evidence to the Mahon Tribunal.
Those saying they will vote in favour of the Lisbon Treaty outnumber opponents by two to one, with 46% saying the will vote yes, 23% saying they will vote no and 31% undecided.


According to the Red C for the Sunday Business Post the state of the political parties has changed little since the last poll a month ago.
· Fianna Fáil 37% (+1%)
· Fine Gael 31% (-1%)
· Labour is at 10%
· Green Party 7%
· Sinn Féin 8% (-1%)
· PDs 2%.
· Independents and others 6% (+2%)


Looking at the 2007 General Election FF is down 4.6% whilst FG is up 3.7%. Labour is unchanged. The Greens are up 2.3%. Sinn Fein is up 1% and PDs are down 0.7%.

Statistically these changes in political party support-since the last poll- are insignificant and within the margin of error. FF appears to have halted the slide. FF politicians and media supporters have fought a strong rear guard action and have emphasized the necessity to tackle the current economic problems. This resonates with the electorate, which is Tribunal weary. In addition the increase in Green Party support is probably temporary. It is in all probability soft FF support which will return to the party in the course of any General Election campaign.

Some FG politicians have placed too great an emphasis on the Mahon Tribunal. FG has introduced a Private Members' motion on broadband in the Dail. The significance of Simon Coveney’s proposals was drowned out in a flood of political recriminations on Mahon. How many voters realise that FG has produced such a comprehensive policy? Similarly the import of the FG Private Members Motion on Autistic Children was soon obscured. An over emphasis on Mahon will not put bread and butter on the table. Voters have other priorities. Also if FG is to progress further Enda Kenny must place a greater emphasis on the economy with concise sharp questioning. In addition the opposition erred in pressurising Brian Cowen on Ahern’s travails. Why should the opposition attempt to bring the FF leadership issue to the boil. This only favours FF. Sensible oppositions allow governments to stew.

The Labour Party is hamstrung by the level of Sinn Fein support in working class areas of Dublin. Labour must attempt to take on Sinn Fein.

Ireland-Red C/Sunday Business Post poll shows FF down 6% on its General Election result

The Last Red C/Sunday Business Post poll took place in November 2007. Such polls are taken monthly-with the exception of December. This is the first poll in the series for 2008. Its results are quite similar to those of the Irish Times/ TNS mrbi poll published earlier this week.


It is a more fruitful exercise to compare Red C poll results with the ’07 General Election outcome.

According to Red C, FF support has increased by four points -since the last poll at the end of November -to 36%. Nevertheless the party is down 6% on its General Election result.


Fine Gael is up by one point to 32% on November. It is up 5% on its General Election result.

However the Labour Party is down three points on the November poll to 10%. Labour also secured 10% of the vote in ‘07 General Election.


The Green Party is down two points to 7%- but up 2% on its General Election result.

Sinn Féin stands at 9% -2% higher than its General Election result.


The PDs are unchanged at 2% but down 0.7% on the General Election result


Independents and others drop two points to 4%-down 2.6% on the General Election.

Asked if they believed Bertie Ahern's evidence to the Mahon Tribunal, a clear majority, 54% said they did not, an increase of 12% since last September.

This is a poor poll result for FF as the party secured 42% in the General Election. Much of the soft FF support has moved to Sinn Fein and the Greens. This will in all probability return in the course of any future General Election campaign. It is unlikely that FF would secure anything less than 39% in a General Election. The poll probably understates the real level of FF support. Some FF supporters for obvious reasons are unwilling to indicate their real voting intentions. In the privacy of the ballot box no such inhibitions exist.

The FG performance is impressive as it is up 5% on the ’07 General Election. The party must endeavour to hold this new support with clear-cut policy positions on a wide variety of issues. Fine Gael has been rejuvenated by the influx of ambitious new TDs. It now has a strong front bench, which is more than a match for its FF counterparts. In some polls prior to the 07 General Election FG secured 31% of the vote but fell back to 27% in the actual election. This is soft support. Nevertheless FG appears to be returning to the support levels, which it obtained, in the early 1980s.

The Labour Party is stagnant. It is under pressure from Sinn Fein on the left. It has serious organizational problems in many constituencies. It must wrest working class support from FF if it is to make progress.

Sinn Fein may take some encouragement from the 2% rise in support from the ’07 Election. In all probability it a temporary abode for unhappy FF supporters who will return to their natural party in the course of the next General Election.

Similarly the Greens would be unwise to read too much into the 2% rise in support since ’07 General Election. The Green Party is a temporary rest home for some unhappy FF supporters. The Greens having already sold out on many of their core principles may face retribution from the electorate – a la the PDs.

The PD performance is abysmal. Looks like the good ship PD is heading for the rocks.

Ireland-Green Party leadership rebuffed on Lisbon Treaty

Green Party members -at today's special conference-have voted in favour of supporting the Lisbon Treaty in the forthcoming referendum. However the party leadership failed to secure required two thirds majority.
Members are now free to support whichever side they wish.
Of the 318 delegates eligible to vote at today's conference, 195, or 63%, voted to support the Treaty, while 117 (27%) were opposed.

This is a stinging rebuke for party leader John Gormley who has failed to carry his party with him. Conversely the donkey and cart wing -ably marshalled by Patricia McKenna -has been reinvigorated. The leadership may argue that it came close to a two thirds majority. Nevertheless its position is more perilous than may appear at first sight. Many of those who voted to support the Treaty -today- have strong reservations but did not wish to embarrass John Gormley. In the privacy of the ballot box a large percentage will vote against the Treaty.

Patricia McKenna has claimed that the vote will strengthen the party leadership in its dealings with FF. She is whistling past the graveyard. Bertie Ahern has skilfully neutered the Green Party. Its input into the Programme for Government is minimal. The leadership has sold out on many of its core principles such as co-location, the use of Shannon by the US military and incineration. The government will continue in power irrespective of whether the Greens remain in government or not. Green Party TDs - in their pronouncements -are increasingly indistinguishable from FF. They have lost their radical edge. It is inevitable that party headquarters will attempt to move against the donkey and cart wing . Patricia McKenna is the bête noire of the Realos and will not be forgiven for today's fiasco.
Interestingly only 318 delegates voted at today's conference. An FF or FG convention -for one constituency-would have more delegates.

Ireland- Greens in incineration storm

In the Dail today John Gormley and the Green party came under sustained attack from FG and Labour on the incineration issue.

The decision of An Bord Pleanala to give the go ahead to the Poolbeg incinerator has exposed the Green Party to ridicule. John Gormley and other apologists for the Green Party have endeavoured to wriggle out of the problem. They are trapped by their own political promises and by their failure to negotiate a Programme for Government that would scupper incineration as a tool of Government environmental policy.
The Programme for Government is at least 95% FF policy with a few sops to the Green Party.
FF has successfully emasculated the Green Party. The Greens in opposition would have savaged FF on this issue. FF cannot believe its good fortune.

The following is taken from John Gormley's website:
“The record shows that the government voted down a Green Party motion to stop the incinerator. We have been very clear that in government this incinerator will not go ahead.
“I believe that the planning case against this incinerator is unanswerable. The site selection process was flawed, the traffic impact would be disastrous and, most importantly, there is no need for this massive facility. However, in the past we have seen cases where the An Bord Pleanála’s inspector recommended against the project on planning grounds, only to have this decision overturned by the Bord on the basis of ‘government policy’. This is what happened with the incinerator at Ringaskiddy, and more recently with the redevelopment of Lansdowne Road stadium.

“A recent independent report on waste management in Ireland found that our reliance on incineration is in fact a major impediment to meeting our targets under the EU Landfill Directive. This report, by leading European environmental consultants Eunomia, found that alternatives to incineration could be put in place more quickly and at less cost. We urgently need a change in Government policy, otherwise we will be lumbered with a collection of massive incinerators, which, in the words of Dr Dominic Hogg, the author of the Eunomia report, will ‘crowd out recycling options’.

There is a big grin on FF faces. Incineration has gone through with the Green Party in power.

Ireland-The Green Party sells out on incineration

The relative powerless of the Green Party in Government is illustrated by its capitulation on co-location and on incineration.

The following is taken from the Green Party policy on waste:

“In Government the Green Party will place a moratorium on the incineration of waste”.

Yet the Greens agreed a Programme for Government with FF, which did not preclude incineration.

It is risible to listen to John Gormley articulating an anti incineration policy. He is a member of a Government, which has incineration as one of the key planks of its environmental policy. John Gormley realises quite well that the era of incineration is nigh thanks to the failure of his party in its negotiations with FF. In October he said that Ireland required no more than two incinerators to deal with waste, which cannot be recycled or processed, rather than the eight that are currently planned.

An Bord Pleanála has granted planning permission for the incinerator at Poolbeg in Dublin. If the Green Party had insisted on the ditching of incineration - as a key precondition of its participation in government -residents of Dublin SE would not face an uncertain future. The Green Party has dispensed with many of its core principles to secure seats at the cabinet table. It has lost its way.

Ireland- Green Party spin cannot hide the truth

The Green Party has abandoned most of its core principles in the rush to join a coalition government with FF and the PDs.

In opposition it strongly opposed US military use of Shannon Airport. On entering government it made a u-turn. It has u-turned on incineration and on co-location. It has lost out on the M3. New building regulations announced today will require all new homes to be 40% more energy efficient from next year. However last week the Greens cut 'The Greener Homes Scheme' . Instead of slashing grants to existing householders who wish to reduce energy usage, funding should have been increased.

Green Ministers wax lyrical about the harmony between themselves and FF Ministers. We are informed that there is no interference from the FF side. This is easily explained by the fact that the Green Party sold out on its principles and accepted FF policies hook line and sinker.The Greens are being absorbed by FF. FF never looks a gift horse in the mouth. The Greens- having sold out on their core principles- are now busily endeavouring to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.