Patience with Fianna Fáil partner at an end

GREEN PARTY:GREEN PARTY leader John Gormley said yesterday patience with former coalition partners Fianna Fáil had reached an end and announced the party was pulling out of Government.

The Greens would support a “severely truncated” Finance Bill from the Opposition benches, he added. This follows former minister for energy Eamon Ryan initiating contacts with Fine Gael on Saturday. There were no specific contacts between Mr Ryan and the Labour Party on the Finance Bill at the weekend, but it is understood he began indirect contacts with Labour some time ago.

Mr Gormley referred to problems between the former coalition partners, including the failure of Fianna Fáil to inform the Greens of developments and the “ongoing saga” surrounding the larger party’s leadership.

“Our patience has reached an end. Because of these continuing doubts, the lack of communication and the breakdown in trust, we have decided that we can no longer continue in Government,” Mr Gormley said.

The Green Party leader said his party believed it was possible to complete the Finance Bill quickly before going to a general election, although it accepted it might not be possible to do so by Friday.

He said the Opposition parties had promised to co-operate with the passage of the Bill and confirmed Mr Ryan had “tested the waters” with Fine Gael. He urged Fianna Fáil to make every effort to fast-track the legislation.

Mr Ryan said the Bill could be passed in “a very, very tight timeframe” without amendments. “You’re talking about a matter of days and my preference would be, yes, to do it by Friday,” he said.

Finance spokespersons from each party should meet to discuss the matter today and work in “a collegiate way”. Reaching agreement would help restore confidence in the Dáil, he said.

Asked what the Greens would do in the event of Fine Gael or Labour going ahead with threatened motions of confidence, Mr Gormley indicated he did not think this scenario would arise.

Expanding on the “series of difficulties” his party had experienced in Government, Mr Gormley said the communication of the International Monetary Fund’s arrival left people feeling misled and betrayed. But the Greens had felt a duty to stay in Government to pass the Budget and related legislation.

Other difficulties included the party not being informed about “meetings with bankers”, by which Mr Gormley meant the Greens did not know that Mr Cowen played golf and had dinner in July 2008 with then chairman of Anglo Irish Bank Seán FitzPatrick.

Referring to the Greens’ refusal to support Mr Cowen’s plan to appoint new ministers after senior ministers had resigned, Mr Gormley said: “We were left really in the lurch in relation to the promotions issue.”

Speculation about who might lead Fianna Fáil was “a total distraction from Government”.

The Greens had stood back for a long time in the hope that Fianna Fáil could resolve the issue, but this had not been possible.

Mr Gormley said the Greens did not regret entering Government with Fianna Fáil in 2007. “It was I suppose a momentous decision to enter Government . . . leaving Government is difficult but it is, we believe, the right thing to do based on the set of circumstances that we now face.”

The experience gained would stand to the party in years to come, he said. The party’s national executive held a meeting yesterday at which a strong view was expressed that the time had arrived when the Greens could no longer participate in Government. It was a consensus view, backed up by e-mails and text messages from grassroots members.

Mr Gormley expressed pride in his party’s legislative achievements and said he regretted not having more time to complete other legislation.

He referred to its “many achievements in the areas of planning, renewable energy, energy standards of buildings, water conservation and other environmental areas”.

He also said the party was proud “that we gave rights to gay couples through civil partnership, and that we persisted in our belief that education and the arts should be protected”.