Crisis for Greens as Gogarty resigns

FRESH controversy hit the Greens last night after Paul Gogarty quit as education spokesperson following clashes at the party’s conference last weekend.

The maverick Dublin West TD said he was resigning from the front bench because activists voted to set up a new body to deal with education strategy — a move the outspoken deputy said “undermined” his position.

Despite his dramatic walkout, Mr Gogarty said he would remain in his e20,000-a-year post as chairperson of the Oireachtas education committee unless Green leader John Gormley wanted him to stand down.

Mr Gormley made it clear he was happy for Mr Gogarty to remain in the role and that if the deputy had felt “insulted” at the conference, that had not been intentional.

The row came as Green junior minister Trevor Sargent said cuts in special educational assistance caused by the financial crisis “turned his stomach”.

Mr Gogarty’s resignation followed a difficult weekend when he appeared at odds with the leadership on a number of fronts at the party conference.

Though a motion sponsored by him calling for a special conference next year to consider pulling out of coalition with Fianna Fáil was backed by 55% of delegates, it failed to get the necessary two-thirds approval needed — much to the relief of Mr Gormley.

A similar motion calling for a special conference to be convened if education cuts were not reversed, was also turned down.

Mr Gogarty is no stranger to controversy, raising eyebrows last month with an interview in which he compared his party to a prostitute being “screwed” by Fianna Fáil.

“I have made a personal decision that the role of education spokesperson can’t work properly with this motion being passed.

“But I’m here to fight this fight on behalf of the Green Party and on behalf of the children in schools around the country,” he told RTÉ.

Mr Gogarty said speculation about his position was a “storm in a teacup” and he did not want it to detract from the positive Green conference.

Labour’s education spokesperson Ruairi Quinn branded the resignation a “futile gesture” and insisted Mr Gogarty should give up his paid role as chairperson of the committee.

Health Minister Mary Harney said while she was disappointed to learn of Mr Gogarty’s resignation, it was important to emphasise that he was not withdrawing his support for Government or involvement in the Greens.

“He’s a constituency colleague of mine, he hasn’t resigned from the party and I understand he is still supporting Government, but he has to make his own decisions,” Ms Harney said.

“The current challenges mean the reduction on education and teacher numbers will bring us back to 2007-08 levels. We spend e9.8 billion on education, but clearly I wish Deputy Gogarty well.”