Greens in crisis as second councillor leaves in protest

GREEN councillor Bronwen Maher has added to the party’s woes by becoming its second senior figure to resign this week in protest at the leadership’s performance in Government.

Ms Maher lashed out at party leader John Gormley and his parliamentary party colleagues as she departed yesterday, saying they were no longer standing up for the vulnerable in society.

But Mr Gormley fired back last night, accusing Ms Maher of departing in order to protect her Dublin City Council seat in June’s local elections.

Asked why she resigned, he said: “Because I think we find ourselves in the uncomfortable position of being a party in government during an economic crisis, and that is difficult — it is difficult for any party. And I would say that there was a political calculation made: ‘Well, hey, I may lose votes as a result of that.’ That would be my best guess.”

Ms Maher will stand in the local elections as an Independent, mirroring the stance of Cork city councillor Chris O’Leary, who resigned from the party on Wednesday.

The party has denied that a grassroots revolt is forming, but Mr Gormley could not say with certainty that he would retain the support of other prominent members. Instead, he said it was his “best guess” that people were “sticking by” the party.

He denied that the Greens had under-performed in Government, saying their failure had been not properly communicating their “huge achievements” to the public.

He also insisted the party had sufficient clout within the coalition. But when asked to name one instance when the Greens had prevented Fianna Fáil from doing something, he refused, saying: “I don’t want to get into the business of what we have actually stopped Fianna Fáil doing.”

But Ms Maher claimed neither Mr Gormley nor Mr Ryan had any influence whatsoever on the Government outside of their respective portfolio areas.

The Green Party was now “rightly seen to be propping up a Government that has lost the confidence of the Irish people, and which is unable to come up with any meaningful solution or way forward in this economic crisis”, she added.

“The recent poorly thought-out and reactionary budget put paid to any notion that the Greens would protect the vulnerable in this economic downturn.”

Ms Maher said she was aware of a number of other councillors who felt the same way about the party’s performance in Government. “I think we may see a gradual loss of party members who may go off and do other things.”

All eyes within the party will now be on the conference to discuss election preparations in Drogheda on Saturday.

Although long planned, the conference has taken on added importance as a barometer of the Green party’s health.