Daniel McConnell: Another week, another row for Eamon Ryan and the Coalition

Leader of the Green Party Eamon Ryan, a second-time minister, has morphed from being seen as the 'sensible Green minister' during the 2007 to 2011 Cabinet to an image now of an unpredictable dotty uncle capable of causing havoc, his critics say. Picture: Aidan Crawley

For all of this Government’s habit of shooting itself in the foot since taking office, it has proven to be remarkably stable.

Despite the historic three-pronged dynamic of the Coalition, which could have been expected to give rise to tensions, such internal bickering and squabbling has been kept to a minimum so far.

But as we approach the halfway point of the lifetime of this Government, that situation is changing, and the past two weeks have seen the Coalition dogged by persistent criticism of one of its leading lights from within.

In such coalitions, no man or woman is an island and cannot swim alone. You need your colleagues in other parties to see your agenda implemented. That takes dialogue; that takes compromise. That takes patience.

It seems at the moment that Green Party leader Eamon Ryan can barely go a day without falling foul of his own Government backbenchers, who are livid with him over a range of issues from turf to his cancelling of important road projects.

Following an intervention last year by the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, over phase 1 of the Limerick North Distributor Road Eamon Ryan relented and the project was given the go-ahead. Picture: Julian Behal/PA

Ryan, a second-time minister, has morphed from being seen as the “sensible Green minister” during the 2007 to 2011 Cabinet to an image now of an unpredictable dotty uncle capable of causing havoc, his critics say.

Not excusing the deeply hostile and somewhat personalised response Ryan got last week from Fine Gael TDs in particular over the proposed ban on turf, but he has allowed himself to become a lightning rod of criticism from the highly noisy rural independents as well as his own backbenchers.

This week alone has seen him embroiled in two fresh spats with Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil backbenchers who can clearly barely contain their contempt for Ryan and his agenda.

As I reported on Monday, Ryan’s decision to put an end to phase 2 of the Limerick North Distributor Road to Shannon has caused fury among local TDs and senators who, for the second time in a year, feel cheated by the Green leader.

Last year, a major stand-off occurred when Ryan sought to block phase 1 of the project in Limerick City, which prompted a scathing response from veteran Fianna Fáil TD Willie O’Dea.

O’Dea has his own baggage with Ryan and the Greens — he holds them responsible for forcing his resignation as Defence Minister from the Brian Cowen government in 2010. He let rip to party leader and Taoiseach Micheál Martin.

In typically blunt fashion, O’Dea said Ryan was making him “look like a eunuch” over the road. Quoting Hollywood star Clint Eastwood, O’Dea said of Mr Ryan: “Don’t piss down my back and tell me it’s raining”, to widespread humour at a meeting of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary meeting.

Following an intervention by the Taoiseach, Ryan relented and the project was given the go-ahead. So, there is a strong sense of deja-vu among the TDs following Ryan’s latest block to the road. In the Dáil on Thursday, the usually mild-mannered pairing of Kieran O’Donnell and Joe Carey let Ryan have it.

With Ryan taking Leaders’ Questions, both Fine Gael TDs raised our story that Ryan had axed phase 2 of the road, describing the decision as “illogical”.

'Samurai sword' to project

This followed fresh criticism from O’Dea and fellow Fianna Fáil TD Cathal Crowe, who accused Ryan of “taking a samurai sword” to a road project that has been awaited for nearly 20 years.

In a bid to quell the backbench anger, the Taoiseach has been forced to intervene and see if he can persuade Ryan to change his mind, but to date, that has not happened.

Then, late on Thursday night, during a Dáil debate on the proposed ban on turf, Ryan caused further anger by suggesting that peat briquettes could be included in the prohibition.

However, as quickly as he said it, his office was already backtracking the statement as it was made clear that the current popular standard briquette from Bord na Móna already is made to conform to the health standards of 10 micrograms of pollution being proposed.

Then his office issued a further clarification yesterday, saying the minister was primarily talking about foreign-made briquettes imported into the country as opposed to the domestic variant.

Predictably, Ryan was rounded upon by Fianna Fáil TDs, who gave voice to the concerns caused by his comments the night before. Offaly TD and former Agriculture Minister Barry Cowen said Ryan should not have gone into the Dáil and made such a comment when he already knew the domestic briquettes comply with the proposed regulations.

“There was no reason to raise it," said Cowen. "He shouldn’t have gone into the Dáil and raised fears and worries among the workforce and the communities.” 

Cowen also said Ryan did not mention peat briquettes in a recent heated meeting with Fianna Fáil TDs because, as far as he was concerned, the matter was closed and the clarity had already been given. If that is the case, one has to wonder what Ryan’s motivation is.

Was he deliberately seeking to rile and antagonise the rural contingent within his own Government, or was it the case that he was overreaching in his comments during his Dáil contribution?

While the latter is more likely, given the pressure he was already under from increasing numbers of his own side, it was an extremely loose and careless intervention. Such instances further fray and strain an already fractious relationship between Ryan on one side and Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil on the other.

Turf war

The turf row was an easy excuse for TDs in the two bigger parties to give Ryan a bloody nose and show their frustrated constituents that the Greens are not having it all their own way.

As we get closer to local and European elections, we can expect the parties within Government to start seeking to eke out their own distinct voice, which will bring its own set of tensions.

Ryan and the Greens, elected off the crest of a wave in 2020, were able to extract fairly decent terms in order to enter Government and have already secured a lot by way of painful concessions from the other two parties.

But Ryan must understand there is a limit to the number of fights he can take on without it all collapsing down upon him.

He is at the limit of what his Coalition partners are willing to stomach, and one senses that another road issue or another perceived attack on rural Ireland could be enough to lead to another meltdown within the Government.

Such concerns around Ryan’s modus operandi are not new. Sure they were the very reason why his own deputy leader Catherine Martin sought to oust him, only to fail spectacularly back in 2020.

If he continues to attract such heat from all sides, he will quickly find himself running out of road, and his agenda will be halted. In light of the way he has done his business to date, there will be plenty of people from within the Coalition happy to see him fall flat on his face.