McKenna not to run for Green Party

FORMER GREEN Party MEP Patricia McKenna says she will not seek a party nomination for next year's European Parliament elections.

Ms McKenna, who is a strong opponent of the Lisbon Treaty, served two terms in the parliament for the Dublin constituency until her defeat in 2004.

In an interview with Hot Press this week, she said that, if selected, she would be "unable to toe the party line" on various issues. "If I ran for the Greens, I would be asked to toe the parliamentary line . . . and if issues arise in relation to militarisation and Lisbon . . . to stay quiet in the European Parliament," she said.

"But I would, as I have done in the past, have to speak out. How would party members feel about me making things difficult for members of the Government? I would feel a hypocrite and realise that I am just the same as all the rest."

She told The Irish Times yesterday that she had not considered leaving the party and had not thought about any possible future electoral plans.

Last month, Ms McKenna failed to get a party nomination to contest next year's local elections in the Cabra-Glasnevin area of Dublin.

Although she was at odds with the party leadership on the Lisbon Treaty, she had not been ruled out as a candidate in the three-seater. There is speculation that Wicklow-based Senator Déirdre de Búrca might seek a nomination for the Dublin constituency.

Meanwhile, Ms McKenna has also strongly criticised the RTÉ television celebrity programme, Fáilte Towers , in which she participated. It was nothing more than "an ego-boosting exercise for most of its B-list celebrities'' and about winning at all costs, she said.

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times