Stability essential to State, warns Gormley

NEXT GOVERNMENT:A FINE Gael government with the support of Independents would be a recipe for instability, Green Party leader John Gormley said yesterday.

The next three years would be the most important the State has faced and the country needed economic and political stability, he said. Most Independents were about “mé-féinism” and were not interested in the bigger political picture. Neither would they tackle cronyism and corruption in politics.

He acknowledged the polls were showing a single-party Fine Gael government supported by Independents was a real possibility.

Mr Gormley said Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny’s promise to make any deal with Independents transparent was meaningless, as the Independents would be going back to their constituencies in triumph with any concessions they got from the new government.

He said his party had stood firm against cronyism and had blocked attempts by Independent TD Michael Lowry to have a casino in his constituency.

“I think it is an unhealthy development. We were very clear when we were dealing with the likes of Michael Lowry that we would not entertain the possibility of a casino,” he said.

Mr Gormley also accused retiring Independent TD Jackie Healy-Rae of attempting to hold the country to ransom.

He singled out Shane Ross as a potential Independent whose demands might destabilise a Fine Gael-led government. Mr Ross is standing in Dublin South and is regarded as a real threat to former Green minister Eamon Ryan.

Mr Gormley accused Mr Ross of pursuing a right-wing agenda by seeking to cut corporation tax by a further 2.5 per cent to 10 per cent, depriving the exchequer of €800 million in revenue.

“I have to wonder what other financial gurus have up their sleeves. This is nonsensical whimsy and dangerous to Ireland’s taxpayers and our international reputation,” he said.

The Green Party leader said he believed there was too cosy a relationship between the major political parties and bankers.

“It is very clear to me that, if you look at the history of our banking regulation, that nothing happened after the various scandals. We had less regulation because people like Mr [Seán] FitzPatrick said that we wanted the banking sector to thrive – we needed less regulation.” He claimed it was the insistence of the Green Party that the country got a new financial regulator and a new governor of the Central Bank.

The Green Party’s party political broadcast, which was unveiled this morning, will be shown tonight after the 9pm news.