Restarting economy and a Greener Ireland major priority in govt talks - Ryan

The Green Party negotiating team may include some members who voted against entering into negotiations with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.

Green leader Eamon Ryan met with Leo Varadkar and Micheál Martin this morning to set out timeframes and how the negotiations for entering formal government formation talks would take shape.

The Green Party have not yet decided on who their team will be made up of, however are due to announce the members by Wednesday, before negotiations officially start on Thursday.

Deputy leader Catherine Martin has admitted that she was one of a number of the parliamentary party who had voted against going to government negotiations, wary of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil's commitment to issues around the environment and housing, however Mr Ryan says voting against the talks would not be grounds for excluding her from the negotiating team.

"I think that's healthy in politics that you have different views and you're allowed to articulate them, and so I don't see that in a factor, one way or another in that regard," Mr Ryan said, before adding that he had confidence in Ms Martin in her role in the party, despite their difference of opinion.

Mr Ryan has repeated that a major priority in the government formation talks will be the restarting of the economy post Covid-19, carried out through "a just transition" to a Greener Ireland, including "reassessing how we organise transport and where we work from and how we work".

Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael sent further clarification to the Green Party over the weekend that they would "commit to developing measures to achieve an average of 7% per annum reduction in annual emissions for the next decade", in an effort to get Mr Ryan's party over the line after days of deadlock in the party on whether they should join negotiations.

Members within Fianna Fáil's traditional rural voter base have baulked at the idea of coalition with the Green Party, with fears that plans to lower climate emissions by 7% will hurt farmers and other food producers.

Mr Ryan's party say they are working to ensure that the voices in rural Ireland are listened to.

"It will not work if we don't bring our people with us, and inclusion in that is our farming communities," Mr Ryan said.

"We have a huge opportunity now to work with the agricultural community, to create jobs and pay people properly in that change.

"They're absolutely centerstage, they're the people who know most about what's going on in our climate, who have the biggest job in terms of helping us make that 7% cut, they need to get paid properly, and we need to value the work they're doing.

"Maybe this will allow us to come back and think what's really important and part of what's important is the people who manage to look after our land.

"This has to be good for rural Ireland or else it won't work. So it's our job to try and make that work."

The Green Party will need a two thirds majority of their around 4,000 members in both Northern Ireland and the Republic in order to enter government, which they plan to hold by postal vote ballot.