New Government - Bringing the Greens on board
Following a series of missed deadlines, botched deals, breakdowns and false starts, the stuttering negotiations with Fianna Fáil came to a close on the fine print last night, leaving party leaders Bertie Ahern and Trevor Sargent to reach agreement on the key issues of a draft programme for government.
With hundreds of paid-up Greens heading for the party convention at the Mansion House in Dublin, having been summoned by email yesterday, the challenge facing the leadership will be to sell a broadly based policy package, including a tantalising prospect of influencing key government decisions, a scenario unimaginable just a few short years ago.
Whether or not the lack of Green experience was to blame, the protracted negotiations appeared to be going nowhere yesterday. Conveniently, “drafting problems” were blamed for the delay in finalising a deal, which is due to be submitted to the party convention today.
In terms of political clout, the Green Party has only six TDs compared with Fianna Fáil’s 78. Were the courtship to turn sour, they know Mr Ahern could do without them, relying on the support of the two PDs and a handful of Independents from the FF gene pool.
As proof of this, he has already signed a deal with Jackie Healy-Rae, involving a package worth tens of millions of euro to be invested in healthcare, district hospitals and roads in south Kerry over the next five years.
By now, most Green party activists realise there is little chance of securing big concessions to demands on a range of issues. In the absence of a Green Spring tide in the general election, delegates at the convention will be asked to consider the political prospect of playing a significant role in government, influencing important decisions on climate change, the environment, planning and transport.
The challenge facing the leadership will be to carry the meeting, over-riding opposition from members allergic to the notion of getting into bed with Fianna Fáil under any circumstances.
The 90-page document will be released at today’s conference but clearly the country’s biggest party is unlikely to give ground on such controversial questions as the use of Shannon by US troops, the co-location of public-private hospitals, or the Tara motorway.
While the sticking points between the Green Party and Fianna Fáil appear to have been resolved, the distribution of ministerial portfolios remains the prerogative of the Taoiseach and Deputy Sargent.
Ironically, the impending arrival of the Greens is already having a psychological effect in Government Buildings where energy-efficient light bulbs were being installed in the corridors of power yesterday.
The challenge facing the smaller party will be to survive the chameleon penchant of Fianna Fáil to don the political clothing of other parties. The Taoiseach’s overnight conversion to socialism was a classic example.
In contrast with the involvement of Greens in centre-left administrations elsewhere in Europe, should the Irish party enter coalition with Fianna Fáil, they will make unlikely bedfellows in a centre-right regime. That will bring unforeseen tensions.
For Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, the glittering prize of bringing the Greens on board is the safe knowledge that an unprecedented third government in a row under his leadership promises to be stable, an administration that should last the course.
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