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.

Ireland-Government rocked by groundswell of opposition to medical card proposals forced to backtrack

No sooner had Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan completed his budget speech than Government deputies from FF, Greens and PDs broke out in thunderous applause. However opposition deputies on the FG and Labour benches had already spotted serious flaws in some of the proposed health and education cutbacks.

The Government's decision to end universal medical card provision for people over 70 lit the fuse. The opposition in the Dail was apoplectic with rage. Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore spearheaded the attack. Yet Brian Cowen, Mary Harney and Mary Coughlan strongly defended the proposal. Government TDs were slow to react.

Grey voters vented their spleen with a display of ferocity seldom seen in Irish politics. Many elderly people have been stunned and frightened by the proposals. All organs of the media were utilized. Now many backbench FF, Green and Independent TDs supporting the government have begun to rebel. Independents such as Michael Lowry and Finian McGrath have come out strongly in opposition
Today Wicklow TD Joe Behan resigned from the Fianna Fáil party in protest at the Budget citing not alone cutbacks in health but also in education. Mr Behan has accused the Cabinet of being out of touch with the electorate.

Just one question for many of these backbench FF deputies. Why did they not shout stop when the FF/PD government allowed public expenditure to rocket by 25% in the two years leading up to the 2007 general election. The property boom bubble supported this growth in public expenditure. It was clearly unsustainable. Many of these deputies won their seats on the back of benign budgets. It is possible that the outgoing government would have been re-elected without such a massive growth in public expenditure.

Four years ago Richard Bruton FG Finance spokesman warned of the unsustainability of the public expenditure splurge and spoke continuously about the inevitable consequences.. Economists such as George Lee, Dr Alan Ahearne and David McWilliams warned about a property boom crash. They were accused of talking down the economy.

The present Medical Card proposals would not get through the Dail. Any effort to force them through would tear the FF Party asunder. The Independents and Greens would probably desert. Tonight on RTE Taoiseach Brian Cowen announced that he would set up a process to deal with the problem. The Government intends to try and renegotiate with the IMO with a view to securing savings.

It is likely that the proposals will be substantially amended or parked. However FF backbenchers, Green Party and Independent TDs had better get used to bad news. Indeed a supplementary budget cannot be ruled out in July 2009 (after the Local Elections) to arrest the slide in the public finances. In addition there may be at least two more harsh budgets one in December 2009 and the other in December 2010. The Government has scored a huge political own goal. Happy are those sitting on the opposition benches.