Storm in a teacup robs party of badly needed convention bounce

MAKING a principled stand or throwing a strop of the highest order?

Whichever way you read it, Paul Gogarty’s tactics/antics overshadowed the Green conference and robbed his party of a precious bit of oxygen.

At the end of a difficult week, in which the Greens in cabinet signed up for a range of further tax hikes and spending cuts, the leadership had looked to the conference as a way of limiting the damage and regaining control of their message.