Greens rule out pact with FG/Labour

The Green Party has ruled out entering any vote transfer pact with Fine Gael or Labour before the general election, saying it…

The Green Party has ruled out entering any vote transfer pact with Fine Gael or Labour before the general election, saying it will campaign as an independent party.

The Greens will be reiterating this position to election candidates and campaign managers in the next few days following a discussion at head office this week.

However, neither Fine Gael nor Labour last night ruled out telling their supporters to give a preference to the Greens. Spokesmen for both parties said no decisions have been made and all electoral matters were being kept under review.

The chairman of the Greens' electoral taskforce, John Gormley, said there was no change in policy.

READ MORE

"There will be no transfer pacts with other parties. We have a mandate from conferences to fight the election as an independent party and that is the position."

It is understood there were tentative discussions between a member of the Green Party and a member of Fine Gael about the possibility of a pact. A source said this contact was "way down the line" and did not involve senior figures in either party.

Some of the party's election candidates have been asked by voters on doorsteps if they should give their second preference to Fine Gael or Labour, and have sought clarification.

Mr Gormley said there are two motions from Green Party conferences which made the position clear. At its annual conference in 2005 delegates agreed to "enter into the next general election as an independent party, with the aim of getting as many Green Party TDs as possible elected."

The conference agreed that "only after the election will it open negotiations with other parties with regard to the possibility of entering government."

At its annual conference last year the party passed a motion that "a major objective for the Green Party in the next election will be to ensure that this Government does not return to power and is replaced with a dynamic and progressive administration"

In an interview with The Irish Times in January, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said he would approach the Green Party to join a rainbow alliance if it and Labour won up to 80 seats in the election.

"I wouldn't object to them [ Greens] being part of it. I think they have some very fine public representatives in there," he said. Mr Kenny added that no attempt to set up a formal pre-election pact could be made. "We get on very well with them, but it is not a case of trying to force some sort of pre-election pact because they are very clear in their own mind about their mandate."

Fine Gael will be telling its supporters that after its own candidates to continue their preferences to Labour. The Labour Party will tell its supporters to do likewise with Fine Gael.

When asked if Fine Gael would tell its supporters to continue their vote to the Green Party after Labour, a spokesman referred to the European elections in 2004 when Enda Kenny asked people to continue their preference to the Greens.

"No decision has been taken on the matter. We will be discussing all electoral issues in the run up to the election," he said.