Greens enjoy their day in the spotlight

Delegates were the centre of attention as they cogitated behind closed doors in the RDS

PEOPLE who need people, are the luckiest people in the world.

Oh, how right you are, Ms Streisand.

On Saturday night, Brian Cowen couldn’t have agreed more. Although in truth, he’d rather not have found himself in such a position of disadvantage in the first place.

But he needs John Gormley’s people to keep the game going, and the leader of Greena Fáil didn’t let him down.

And John, bless him, was absolutely delighted to go from being tolerated by the big boys because he might run off with the football, to being needed.

The difference seemed touchingly important to him.

“We were wanted,” he explained, flushed with exhilaration after the Green Party convention voted overwhelmingly to stay on the pitch. “Now, we are needed.” Sally Field, clutching her Oscar and making that emotional acceptance speech, came to mind. “You like me! Right now, you like me!” But how much has changed?

The Greens can continue throwing shapes with Biffo and the boys, which is nice. But apart from that, what else?

Not much, judging by the new, greenified Programme for Government – in all its pages, only nine actual deadlines for action, with the real meat to be found in what was not included.

What would have happened had John Gormley gone home with the ball, besides failing to feel the need in Brian Cowen? A general election, that’s what, with John and his people banished to the sidelines again while the big boys get on with business in the Premier League without them.

Instead on Saturday, they enjoyed a day in the spotlight, the centre of attention as they cogitated behind closed doors in the RDS. Although closed doors aren’t what they used to be, when there are such things as mobile phones with internet connectivity or, on a more humdrum level, delegates regularly nipping out for air and blabbing the latest state of play to the media outside.

One party member said he’d never seen so many people surreptitiously tapping away on keypads as the proceedings unfolded. When updates were needed, they were only a heart-tweet away. Scores of twittering Greenfinches in the body of the concert hall were “tweeting” messages to the outside world. In this case, the outside world sat next door in the press room monitoring progress on their laptops.

There was an uncomfortable start to the day when an overwrought father gained access to the hall and loudly pleaded the case of his special needs daughter, who has not attended school for a year. Eleven-year-old Angel, clearly distressed, looked on with frightened eyes as James McDonagh from Dún Laoghaire cradled an arm around her and cried: “This Government is failing my child! Look at this!” It was a terribly sad, awkward scene. Gardaí tried to gently usher them from the hall, but the scrum of journalists and camera crews around the little girl only served to further upset her.

The incident was deeply unsettling for all concerned. The question of whether or not it should have happened was quietly discussed afterwards – this intrusion of real-life pain into the abstraction of policy discussion.

Finally, the conference got under way: over 600 delegates, with the morning spent at a question and answer session on the new programme. Time slipped by.

A sign on a cardboard collection box at the registration desk read: “Can you spare five euro to help cover the cost of the conference?” We looked inside and it contained a healthy number of €50 notes.

A party worker rushed to explain. “They asked for change.” So the fate of the country rested with the Greens – that sort of burden can go to a person’s head. They might get a taste for it.

They talked and talked, and twitterd and tweeted. It was past teatime before the first vote took place.

How to fill the hours until the results? Pet Expo was on in the Industries Hall next door. Volunteers from Peata – they bring therapy dogs to hospitals and nursing homes – watched the simmering Greens perform for the cameras in the forecourt.

Suzanne Hayes explained how the dogs do very valuable work in stressful situations. A soft paw from Happy the cocker spaniel and an enthusiastic lick from Rhea, the boxer Labrador cross, were enough to convince.

Any chance Peata could bring some of their charges into a Cabinet meeting before the Budget? “I think it would definitely help for the stress,” said Suzanne.

The results on the Programme for Government and Nama votes finally arrived at seven in the evening, although it was known that both packages had been accepted, thanks to the blabbering tweeters.

Senator Dan Boyle announced the all-important numbers to loud cheers and banner waving from the Young Greens.

Paul Gogarty looked particularly pleased, given that most of the hard and fast concessions are in the area of education. Deputy Gogarty said famously that the education cuts have him “vomiting continuously”. At least after Saturday, he should have less of a problem keeping food down.

Trevor Sargent joined the merry-go-round of interviews afterwards, his mother Mildred running up and kissing him on the cheek.