Mood Of The Delegates Green View On Government

UPBEAT DELEGATES at the Green Party convention in Waterford were pragmatic about their "marriage of convenience" with Fianna Fáil and supportive of their own leadership, writes MARY MINIHAN.

Shirley Piggins from Westport, Co Mayo, said she could not accept the view that the Green Party now had too many Ministers and said the relationship with coalition partners Fianna Fáil had improved.

“There were difficulties early on. It might be called a marriage of convenience. I hold my breath every now and then, but I feel our leadership is very good. All this complaining about getting too many Green Ministers, what I feel is we don’t have enough,” Ms Piggins said.

Edward Gahan from Dublin said the Greens’ demand to ban corporate donations to political parties by early next year could be problematic for some in Fianna Fáil, but insisted it would go ahead. “There are a few tough decisions coming up, on things like corporate donations that may give Fianna Fáil some problems, but it’s a core value for us and it’s going to have to happen,” he said.

The next general election would be difficult for the Greens, he said.

“There are people who will keep their seats, others will have tough fights. But I think the Government will go full term and there will be a different political landscape. The economy will have picked up.”

Mary Rice from Kilkenny said the party had compromised on some items, but it had been worth it to secure success in other areas. “In general people are fairly positive about our achievements and hope there’s more to come with our new ministerial appointments. There’s an air of optimism,” Ms Rice said.

“You do worry about only having six TDs in the Dáil, but I think we are punching above our weight. We could’ve stayed out of Government, but we have to try to make small changes and show by our actions that we are deserving of more responsibility.” The relationship between the Greens and Fianna Fáil was going “as well as you could expect considering we come from totally different places”, said Karen Wise from Co Clare. “It isn’t like a marriage. It’s practical.”

John Carey from Kilmaine, Co Mayo, described the mood of the conference as “upbeat and very positive”.

Former councillor Tom Kivlehan said: “If we lose all our TDs in the next election, we are not going to go away. That’s what makes us different from other parties.”