“We went into this with our eyes open,” Dan Boyle writes of the Green Party’s decision to enter government in 2007.

IT is inconceivable that during all the negotiations and discussions regarding the date of the British queen’s visit to Ireland, no one took into account the importance of choosing a date that would not send out controversial signals.

THE present election will have to be run a second time on the grounds that it is the most un-democratic election that has ever been run within the Irish State.

SURVIVORS of a procedure where the pelvis of women in labour was split in two have demanded the resignation of Health Minister Mary Harney over her failure to establish an inquiry.

IN theory, Déirdre de Búrca’s decision to run in Dublin in last year’s European elections shouldn’t have caused much of a stir, given that she had grown up in Loughlinstown.

ANTI-POVERTY campaigners picketed the Dáil yesterday urging Finance Minister Brian Lenihan not to punish the poor in next week’s budget.

FEAR was the major factor in the resounding Yes vote, anti-Lisbon campaigners have claimed.

The Government must live up to its commitment that the Lisbon Treaty will deliver jobs and take Ireland out of recession, the No movement said today.

FISHERMEN have appealed for solidarity from voters who they said can help revive their industry by rejecting the Lisbon Treaty.

CONTROVERSY over the golden handshake to former Fás boss Rody Molloy has entered the Lisbon campaign, with Sinn Féin referring to the Government’s handling of the issue in the party’s call for a No vote in Friday’s referendum.

ANTI-LISBON group Libertas is hoping to tap into public anger and turn next Friday’s referendum into a vote on Taoiseach Brian Cowen’s performance.

EUROPE Minister Dick Roche has become the first member of Government to express an interest in the job as Ireland’s European Commissioner, saying he would like to take up the position when Charlie McCreevy’s term ends next month.

THE Lisbon treaty does not directly affect the minimum wage of workers in Ireland, the Referendum Commission said yesterday.

TRADE union leaders opposed to the Lisbon treaty have called for the group tasked with providing objective information on both sides of the Lisbon debate to step down amid claims of pro-treaty bias.

Another blessing for the Government is the fact that what you might call the moderate, pro-European but anti-Lisbon camp is largely leaderless. For all his egomania, Declan Ganley was a key factor in swaying undecided voters not to give their assent to a document they either felt they didn’t understand or suspected was deliberately obscure.

The Green Party has hit back at criticisms from its former MEP Patricia McKenna on its decision to campaign for a Yes vote in the re-run of the Lisbon treaty.

Former Green Party MEP Patricia McKenna says the Green Party's support for the Lisbon Treaty will give 'No' campaigners more credibility.

EVERY household in the country will receive a postcard outlining the newly secured guarantees in the Lisbon treaty as the Dáil prepares to debate the issue.

GREEN leaders were last night confident of getting their membership to finally allow the party to campaign for a yes vote to Lisbon.

FINE GAEL and Labour played down fears last night that the urge to punish the Government could sway voters into rejecting the Lisbon treaty for a second time.

The anti-Lisbon Treaty camp today warned the Government to expect a vigorous debate in a second referendum branding EU talks securing Irish guarantees an elaborate charade.

Supporters of the Lisbon Treaty have welcomed the legal guarantees agreed by EU leaders this morning in an effort to get Irish people to vote 'yes' to the document later this year.

People’s Movement chairperson Patricia McKenna has accused the Government of engaging in a cynical exercise of “political manipulation”.

SINCE the emperor bought new clothes, few have been so stark in their political self-delusion as the Green Party this week in their insistence that the relevance of their agenda, to save the world, will help save them from their near brush with death in last week’s elections.

“A ROAR of opposition by the ordinary people of Dublin” helped Joe Higgins fight off Fianna Fáil for a seat in the European Parliament, according to the country’s first Socialist Party MEP.

Socialist Party activist Joe Higgins today secured a stunning victory in the European elections to rob Fianna Fáil of its only MEP in Dublin.

THE Green Party almost lost everything.

The nation goes to the polls today – dubbed “Super Friday” – to elect two TDs, 12 MEPs and 1,627 councillors.

FORMER Fine Gael leader and Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald made a dramatic intervention in the European elections yesterday when calling on party supporters to back Fianna Fáil’s Eoin Ryan ahead of Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald in the race for the last seat in Dublin.

THE Greens launched their Vision for Dublin strategy yesterday, but insisted progress had been made since they launched documents of the same name before the 2004 and 2007 elections.

“BIG Brussels house, this is the Voter. You are live on June 5, please do not swear.

THE Green Party’s European candidates have revealed the depth of their frustration with opponents.

TAOISEACH Brian Cowen is back in the firing line, with the opposition parties using growing support to undermine his Fianna Fáil-led coalition.

BOTH main parties are in danger of losing a seat in the Euro polls as Labour is set for a surge, it emerged last night.

FORMER Green MEP Patricia McKenna admitted she has an uphill battle to get elected as she launched her campaign for one of the three Dublin seats.

Former Green Party MEP Patricia McKenna has said Ireland needs an independent voice in the European Parliament.

Veteran Green Patricia McKenna today stoked up her fiery relationship with the junior coalition partners by standing against them in the European elections.

Former Green Party MEP Patricia McKenna is apparently set to contest the forthcoming European elections as an independent candidate.

FF’s results in previous Euro elections are poor. From 1979 to 2004 the average FF Euro vote over the 30-year period was 34.73%. Over the same period, the FF vote in general elections from 1981 to 2007 shows a significant differential. Their average over nine general elections was 43.05%

Former Green Party MEP Patricia McKenna has admitted that she is still undecided about whether she should quit the party.

Green Party leader John Gormley has hit out at Patricia McKenna over her recent remark that the party is in freefall.

GREEN PARTY leader John Gormley yesterday admitted it had been a “difficult week”, but insisted it was better to be in Government than opposition.

IT is important in today’s environment to encourage and recognise people who are providing leadership in their own communities, Macra na Feirme president Catherine Buckley has stressed.

The Green Party today denied it was facing a grassroots revolt after it lost its second local councillor within 24 hours.