Greens to support education cutbacks

GREEN party leaders last night faced down grassroots anger and insisted they would back education cuts.

A crunch meeting of the party’s TDs, senators and more than two dozen councillors decided to continue in government despite concern about the impact of the emergency budget on teacher numbers.

Environment Minister and party leader John Gormley defended the move, insisting he would be seeking a rollback of the cuts over the longer term, but that the current financial situation left the cabinet with no choice as the country “faced into an economic abyss”.