It would be great news for the country if Greens pulled the plug

The Greens ascended onto Planet Bertie — a location that Gormley had said they would never inhabit — and breathed deeply of the noxious air. The Greens were brought in as lobby fodder... and to provide cover for the dirty work of introducing enforced recycling, carbon taxes and water metering

THERE are some deep ironies about the position in which the Green Party finds itself this weekend, as its members vote on a revised programme for its coalition government with Fianna Fail and possibly on its position on NAMA, polls that will decide on its continued participation in government.

The greatest is that the party that claims to be better able to see the “bigger picture” — saving the planet — than any other has been forced to park its own ambitions during its time in government in attempt to satisfy the other “bigger picture” — in national terms — of trying to effect national economic stability.