Gormley defends demands for posts

GREEN Party leader John Gormley has defended his decision to demand Fianna Fáil deliver him two junior ministerial posts in the reshuffle.

And he played down the internal party spat which threatened to end his tenure as Environment Minister in order to fulfil a rotation deal he made with new junior minister Ciarán Cuffe.

He said Mr Cuffe’s appointment as junior minister with responsibility for sustainable transport and planning, along with Mary White’s promotion to the post of the junior equality minister, was a cause of celebration for the party.