{news} Fw: USGP-INT Irish Greens in government

[Justine McCabe]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/article6446805.ece

 From The Sunday Times
June 7, 2009

Greens are left staring at oblivion

Party faces wipeout as voters turn on Fianna Fail's coalition allies

The Green party yesterday appeared to have paid a terrible price for
joining the government: its local representation has been wiped out
across the country, with early indications suggesting it would lose up
to 13 of its 17 city and council seats.

Patricia McKenna, the former Green MEP, said the party was in danger of
going the same way as the Progressive Democrats. In Dublin, it faces
losing all its seats in every council. Tallies showed all four sitting
councillors in Dun-Laoghaire/Rathdown are likely to be unseated.

In Fingal, at least two of the three sitting councillors were in serious
trouble, with David Healy and Robbie Kelly badly affected by the newly
merged Howth/Malahide ward. In Galway, former mayor Niall O Brolchain
was in seventh place in the race for five seats.

In South Dublin, sitting councillor Dorothy Corrigan was trailing in
10th place after the first count and seemed certain to lose her seat.

The only council gain was in Louth, where Mark Daly won a seat. The
party also took some comfort from the likelihood that it will retain the
same number of town councillors, 13.

As expected, the party did not feature in either of the by-elections,
getting just 3.5% of the vote in Dublin South and 2.9% in Dublin Central.

Yesterday, as the first news came in, Green TD Ciaran Cuffe said: “I’m a
bit rattled this morning. I think it is time to review \ programme for
government and maybe look Fianna Fail in the eye on some of the issues
that we did not get that we wanted two years ago.”

Asked if the devastating loss was a message that Green supporters no
longer wanted their party in coalition with Fianna Fail, Cuffe said: “I
think people want to give the government a good kicking and we’re a
party in government. All in all it’s been a very disappointing day for
the Green party.”

McKenna said: “It wasn’t their time to go into government but the party
leadership wouldn’t listen. They have set the Green party back years,
and it’s hard to know whether they will survive.

“Clearly they are in trouble. Their councillors are being wiped out
across the country, so in the next general election they will have no
base to work from. The hunger of being in power has ruined the party.”

McKenna said even if it pulled out of government now, it might be too
late. “It can’t be for electoral success. It has to be for the good of
the country, not the good of the party.”

O Brolchain said he “expected the worst” when voters told him they would
vote for him only if he stood as an independent. Clearly despondent, he
said the public had sent the Greens a clear message. “A large section
are unhappy with the Greens propping up Fianna Fail and they would like
a general election,” he said. “I actually think the opposite will happen
now. We will hang on for dear life and try to turn things around. The
parliamentary party now seems to outnumber the councillors. But if there
was an election tomorrow they would be wiped out too and we would lose
all our staff and close up.

“The only choice is to stay on for another three years and then face the
electorate because if we pull out tomorrow we will get hammered.”

O Brolchain said the Greens had to be more forceful with Fianna Fail in
government over the next three years to ensure its environmental
policies are implemented. “We are fighting for our lives now. Our only
choice is to give Fianna Fail a very hard time in government. It’s
desperation stakes for us now. It won’t be pretty but it’s our only
choice. “If there was an election there is no question Labour and Fine
Gael would come in and that would be a strong government. Whether they
could turn things around is another question.”

Eamon Ryan, the communications minister, rejected the suggestion that
the Greens renegotiate the programme for government rather than pull out
of government.

“One of the lessons we have from previous experience, looking at say the
1980s, we had a constant series of elections, then you could have a
political system that wasn’t able to make such difficult calls. That
didn’t serve the country’s interest. I think, while they have not
necessarily been popular, I think the broad decisions have been the
right ones,” said Ryan.
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