Green Party to enter government in Ireland
Today the Irish Green party voted to enter into a coalition government with Ireland’s largest political party, the center-right Fianna Fail. This is the first time the Greens will serve in Government since its foundation 25 years ago.
Other Green parties in Europe have served in government, in countries such as Finland, Sweden, Italy, France, Germany and Latvia (who even elected a Green prime minister), with parties of various ideologies, both left and right-wing.
Negotiations between the two parties took place over several days during the past two weeks, and almost collapsed when the Greens halted talks at one stage over frustration with Fianna Fail’s unwillingness to compromise on key issues. Nevertheless, a program for Government was agreed on late on Tuesday and the Green Party leadership organised an emergency convention for its members to vote on the proposal, which passed by a overwhelming majority of 86%. Following the vote, the party’s leader Trevor Sargent stepped down because of a pre-election promise that he would not lead his party into coalition with Fianna Fail. Despite this, he is fully supportive of the parties decision, and will likely serve in the cabinet as a junior minister.
Not all members were pleased with the deal however, an emotional Patricia McKenna (MEP) told RTE news that she was devastated at the decision, citing the continued use of Shannon Airport by the U.S. military in the Iraq War as something her party should not have compromised on; while the party’s founder Roger Garland has called the deal a betrayal.
Although the Green party could not persuade Fianna Fail to adopt major positions on areas like health and education, they did make significant progress in environmental policy, political reform (something very high on the party’s wish-list for some time now), and public transport.
I’ve been a supporter of the Green party in Ireland for a couple of years now, and have been a card carrying member for about 9 months. Unfortunately I could not make it to the vote today, but I fully support the decision to enter government with Fianna Fail.
Here’s why:
- It Makes Sense: In a parliamentary style of government, the opposition never gets to implement their policies at a national level. The Green party has been around for 25 years, it’s about time we started making some real change. It’s fair enough that some members are arguing that entering into government with Fianna Fail is selling out and betraying the party’s roots, in a sense they are correct. But it’s time to get real: we need to make changes, and we need to do it now, it that means selling our collective souls, so be it.
- We Can’t Wait: We can’t afford to wait another five years for the opportunity to serve in government. Putting aside the fact that climate change requires immediate action, the country is in desperate need of real reform in social services such as health and education. Five years will be five years to late.
- The Party’s Future Requires It: There is only so long a party can sustain itself without actually serving in government. For people to start taking the Greens seriously, we need to show them what we are capable of achieving given real power and influence.
- We Can Handle It: Many members and political commentators seem to think that serving with Fianna Fail will destroy the Green party, as has happened to other parties who formed a coalition with them. I say we’re made of sterned stuff: our policies are sufficiently different that the electorate will know what we are and are not responsible for, and our core vote is extremely loyal.
Only time will tell how the Green party will fare in government. But I have high hopes.
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