Party urged to give electorate 'practical solutions'

Green Party deputy leader Mary White urged the party to move beyond its roots as a protest movement.

"Yes, we must certainly protest against waste, poor water quality, poor public transport and the social injustices that spring from this lopsided wealth of ours.

"But for today's electorate, protests and aspirations will not be enough. Our protests will sound hollow unless we can present practical solutions to the problems that people experience in their daily lives."

These were hours lost in queues, traffic jams, queues in A&E departments of hospitals, banks, post offices and shops.

"The whole country has become one long, frustrating queue. So how do we change things? Well, we Greens mean business. We want to take action; sensible, effective action based not on dogma but on reality.

"The voters have low expectations of other parties, but we Greens will be judged by higher standards, and in order to grow as a party we must set ourselves new and demanding standards."

However the party's principles were not for sale. "This party must never sink itself into a sentimental morass animated by nothing other than the need to scramble into any government which does not include Fianna Fáil.

"And it is my belief that we should fight the next election on our own terms. We must give the Irish people positive reasons for espousing Green principles, and positive reasons for voting Green."

She said in its campaign to become the most practical and radical of all political parties it should place its concerns about global warming, pollution, and energy efficiency within the context of the State, its landscape and history.

"Above all, we must stop giving the impression that we are in some way ambivalent about our new prosperity. Let me be very frank here. The Irish people will never exchange their newly-won prosperity for a dream of environmental purity. And a party which advocated that they should do so would never have more than a handful of councillors and TDs."

Ms White said the party wanted "a big chunk of the Irish political landscape".

"I feel part of that great European tradition. Look at the map. Ireland is part of Europe. This is not a Euro-sceptical party. But having said that, there are features of this new EU constitution which trouble me.

"So I believe that our party's approach of holding a special convention on this issue is the correct one. This will mean what we Greens will take this decision in a democratic, inclusive and non-hierarchical way. That is the way I like our party to function."

She said if Irish democracy had a fault it was that it was too shy of divisions.

"In Irish politics there is a tendency to mistake confusion for consensus. It is this tendency that has contributed to the extraordinary state of affairs in which it is nearly impossible to define the differences between our two main parties. Tweedledum and Tweedldee, we know the old pair."

The Green Party was radical and faithful to its principles. "I am confident about our future. We will, in time, re-enter the European Parliament. But most of all, we must expand our presence in Leinster House."