Greens say by-election vote is a chance to speak out on scandals

The Green Party candidate in the Dublin South Central by-election has said next week's poll provides people with an opportunity…

The Green Party candidate in the Dublin South Central by-election has said next week's poll provides people with an opportunity "to express a view on the scandals of uncollected taxes and close relationships between the Government and its business friends".

Mr John Goodwillie, a librarian at Trinity College Dublin, said yesterday that issues such as traffic, housing and tax and social welfare reform were at the centre of his campaign, which was formally launched in Dublin yesterday.

Mr Goodwillie is chairman of the Crumlin Community Development project and a former secretary and treasurer of the Crumlin Road and District Residents' Association. In the past he has been active in Earthwatch, the National Gay and Lesbian Federation, the Divorce Action Group and the Dublin Clean Seas Campaign. He is author of Colours in the Rainbow: Ecology, Socialism and Ireland, a book which contributed to the development of green philosophy in Ireland.