Greens accused of cop-out on Lisbon Treaty

The Green Party has been accused of adopting a "cop-out" attitude to the Lisbon Treaty ahead of its special party convention on the reform of the EU later this month.

Responding to a report in The Irish Timesyesterday, Labour Party spokesman on Europe Joe Costello said the Greens wanted to have it both ways by proposing a special resolution to protect the positions of Ministers John Gormley and Eamon Ryan, in the event that two-thirds of delegates do not support the treaty.

Mr Costello portrayed this as a fudge, where the party's leadership, including its two Ministers, would back the Government's support for the treaty while its membership campaigned against it. "A political party cannot conduct a referendum like this on two levels just to facilitate their Ministers," said Mr Costello, a TD for Dublin Central.

"It is like separating the head from the body. Their Ministers in Government are the head of the party and voting one way, while the rest of the members vote any way they want. The Greens are either in Government or they are not," he said.

Some 300 members are expected to attend the conference. Most of its eight parliamentarians are expected to support the treaty while a prominent No campaigner will be former MEP for Dublin Patricia McKenna.