Greens link moves closer

Plans to link the Republic’s Green Party with its Northern counterpart have moved a step closer.

Members of the Northern Ireland Green Party backed a proposal at their conference at the weekend to invite their counterparts south of the border to organise on a 32-county basis.

Under the new plan, the Northern Ireland Green Party will continue to call the shots over policy north of the border, acting as an autonomous body within an all-Ireland party.

They also agreed that links between the Greens in Ireland and its sister parties in Britain would also be developed.

It is understood members of the Irish Republic’s Green Party, which has six members in the Dáil, will consider an invitation from the North to form an all-Ireland structure.

The proposal could go before members at a special conference this autumn.

“What we are seeing is a major change to the organisations of the Green politics on these islands,” a party source said.

“The Green Party is going to be organised on an all-Ireland basis but with the Northern Ireland Greens continuing to have a strong regional framework.

“There will also be an invitation to Greens in England, Wales and Scotland to strengthen our links.

“This will mean that the Green movement, more than any other political grouping, will truly embody the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement.”

The Northern Ireland Green Party is contesting next month’s European elections, with Lindsay Whitcroft standing as their candidate.

The party hopes to build a base for next year’s local government election in Northern Ireland.

It contested several Assembly seats in last November’s Stormont elections but secured just over 2,000 votes across the province.

The leader of the Republic of Ireland’s Green Party, Trevor Sargent, is believed to be a strong advocate of the new party structures.

He addressed Northern Ireland Greens at their conference near Omagh.