Gormley: Coalition with FF/FG unlikely to get majority Green support

A former Green Party leader says government with Fianna Fail and Fine Gael is unlikely to get even a working majority within the current Green membership.

John Gormley, the former Minister for the Environment and leader of the Green Party from June 2007 to May 2011, writes in tomorrow's Irish Examiner, that any "government that lacked total ambition on climate action" would fail to get even half the party's membership on board.

The party requires two-thirds of its membership to be in agreement for any such arrangement to take place.

Pressure has mounted on the Greens in recent days to form a government with the two traditional parties in the name of "national interest", and Mr Gormley, who negotiated with Fianna Fáil after the 2007 election to join government, takes aim at "indignant commentators urging the Greens to 'step up to the plate'".

"I certainly don’t recall glowing editorials or articles praising the party for taking the hardest ever economic decisions in the history of our state, in the full knowledge that it would result in electoral meltdown," he writes.

Likewise, the party whip Neasa Hourigan baulked at the suggestion, labelling it a "power grab" from the traditional parties, and say it would force the party to give up principles for a government they don't agree with on major policies.

Mr Gormley notes that power, for many in his party, is not the ultimate goal, and many in Fianna Fail and Fine Gael have failed to grasp that notion.

Hinting too, that even if the parliamentary party or older members could be persuaded, the new wave of younger, more radical Green members will not be pushed or pressured into a deal for the sake of a seat in Cabinet.

"The Greens that I know are not in politics to protect their seats at all costs. In fact, many of them would regard electoral martyrdom as a badge of honour - if it's for the right cause," he writes.

"Would it (losing seats because of their role in a coalition) be worth it? Perhaps. "But only if the programme for government was a humdinger, one that ticked every green box and then some.

"Traditionally, participation in government was based on the logic that half a loaf is always better than no loaf.

"It’s an argument that simply doesn’t cut it with many younger Greens who now make up a sizeable proportion of the membership. They want to see radical action.

"Forcing an inadequate deal on the Greens won’t work."