Party accused of selling out was unable to cash in

THE Green Party almost lost everything.

While across the country it was unable to find votes for love, its Dublin European candidate was left needing 400 ballots to keep her in the race ahead of Patricia McKenna.

In seventh place Deirdre de Burca was shy of this amount of votes needed to reclaim e38,000 worth of expenses.

Fine Gael’s Gay Mitchell and Labour’s Proinsias de Rossa had romped home. Their seats and expenses were safe.

Elsewhere Joe Higgins and his team spent the day watching to see if he would pip Mary Lou McDonald and Eoin Ryan for the third seat.

But with Higgins ready to watch McDonald’s transfers flow in his direction the count was stopped.

Bewilderment turned to frustration as de Burca requested a complete a recheck in the hope closer scrutiny of transfers would push her over the 25,415 votes needed to save her expenses.

While Higgins was waiting to find out if the paltry e28,000 his party invested in his campaign would pay dividends.

De Burca had to find if she could find, in the 406,630 votes cast, the 400 needed to save e38,000 from her personal finances.

It was a brutal way to finish a merciless weekend for the party.

With the hulking Fianna Fáil able to lick its wounds and fight another day, its loyal partner was left gasping to survive.

But rather than recuperate in silence the De Burca had to put the brakes on the count and lay her finances bare – she could not really afford to forfeit the expenses.

Requesting the count she conceded it was unlikely but it was a desperate act within the rules. As tragic as it was ironic.

The recount could even allow her crawl ahead of Patricia McKenna, the party’s last former MEP in Dublin who had sucked support from those angry at the 2007 decision to enter government.

And for all the party is accused of selling out it was left unable to cash in.

The developers who had backed the main coalition partner through the years would not be around to bail out the Greens.

De Burca was humble. She explained she had invested her own money, this was how the Greens fought elections, with personal investment and an outside chance.

Facing down cameras and reporters last night she looked every bit the manifestation of her party, defeated and drained.

The Greens grew up with a communal spirit and limped home in the same fashion.

Minister Eamon Ryan stood at De Burca’s left shoulder, Trevor Sargent on the other.

It was a solemn interruption to a count without atmosphere. All carried out in secret, trickles of information keeping the parties guessing. And this so the results could be held back at Europe’s convenience.

It had little of the theatre of ordinary counts but every bit of the tragedy.