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.

The other irony is that a party based on principles is likely to make its decision tomorrow on tactical and pragmatic grounds: if the Greens are to have any chance of surviving as a political voice, they have to pick the timing of their departure from government to minimise the inevitable losses in the number of votes and seats that will take place in the next general election.

The overriding issue that is to be decided tomorrow? It’s if now is the right time to go. It has come down to that.

You almost have to feel sorry for the Green ministers in government. Decent and well-intentioned men like John Gormley, Eamon Ryan and former leader Trevor Sargeant (a junior minister) have suffered an extraordinary run of bad luck that they have been powerless to stop. Their lofty ambitions to introduce environmental change from within government have been sundered by the changed economic circumstances.

Their desire to effect political reform — to things like the number of TDs and the expenses they claim — has been hindered by the lack of will on the part of all the other parties, not just Fianna Fáil.

In some respects, they may as well not be Green given what they have been required to do in government — and that is a major problem that will inform the views of delegates to tomorrow’s meetings. The ministers can bang on about initiatives in planning and energy regulation that they have introduced but the reality is that the majority of what Green members want has not been possible to implement.

Such small victories may impress the delegates but not necessarily those cognisant of electoral realities, such as were brutally emphasised by the results of the local elections in the summer.

In another sign of the Green’s naive approach, this outcome triggered demands for an immediate re-negotiation of the programme for government, starting a process the leadership would struggle to control.

It is easy to understand why the Greens went into government: politics is about power, not protest. It’s exactly why Fine Gael lusts after power, having enjoyed it for just 30 months in the last 22 years.

The Greens went into power believe that the environmental challenges facing Ireland are so serious that action has to be taken immediately, rather than in five years time when they might or might not get another chance to go into government. Getting even part of what they wanted was considered better than getting nothing at all. They knew all the cliches about politics being more than just making loud protest, about it being pointless seeking votes only to reject the opportunity to govern.

But there were very good reasons why the Greens should not have allowed themselves to be seduced by Bertie Ahern’s invite in June 2007 — and that’s not with the benefit of hindsight. Back then I wrote how the economic downturn — which was already evident — would make it harder to finance their intentions and, more pertinently, how the embrace of Fianna Fáil would be fatal, just as it was to the Progressive Democrats. I described Fianna Fáil as the praying mantis of Irish politics — a predatory and carnivorous insect — that sucks the life out of smaller coalition partners. That’s what has happened to the Greens.

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 — with Ahern correctly anticipating he could not maintain a workable majority without them over the life of the Dáil as Fianna Fáil lost TDs — and to provide cover for the dirty work of introducing enforced recycling, carbon taxes and water metering.

Who better to do that than the enthusiastic, committed and ideological Greens? He allowed their ministers to suffer the controversy over the routing of the M3 through the Hill of Tara and let them sort out the route for the Corrib gas pipeline, as part of a deal that gave most of the benefits to Fianna Fáil.

Much of what the Greens sought, especially in an excellent economic manifesto that had many progressive ideas on reforming taxation and in expanding public transport, was ignored pointedly in the agreement and commitments to investment in public transport or education can be forgotten now. Gormley and Ryan got two cabinet seats instead but that has proven more of a liability than asset to the Greens. Collective responsibility means that the Greens cannot take credit for what they’ve achieved without receiving debit marks for supporting government cutbacks even if, as insiders, Gormley and Ryan believe there is no alternative. NAMA belongs as much to the Greens as it does to Fianna Fail. So does the forthcoming budget.

THIS weekend’s conference and the clear indication that the Greens would not have supported John O’Donoghue in a vote of confidence over his behaviour as Ceann Comhairle may be designed to help the Greens re-establish their own identity but they are not overly convincing gestures. In government these parties are as one.

Gormley’s standing at Bertie Ahern’s shoulder during the latter’s announcement of his resignation as leader of Fianna Fáil (and therefore as Taoiseach) was a grave mistake and one of the defining images of the Green involvement in government. While it was well received within Fianna Fáil it was not elsewhere, especially among those people who had voted for the Greens based on damning statements made about “planet Bertie” and the lack of moral integrity within the ruling party. Truly it seems that Gormley had inhaled the atmosphere on “planet Bertie” too deeply and had been knocked senseless by the aroma of power. The Greens cannot escape the reality that it is they who are propping up Fianna Fáil in power now. Without the Greens this government — led by a man who was Minister for Finance during the worst years of excess — would be over. It would be great news for the country should the Greens decide to pull the plug on this government tomorrow, as this country needs a general election now to provide the resulting government with a popular mandate to do what is required.

However, the Greens are caught between a rock and a hard place. Go now and such is their unpopularity that they might win no seats in a subsequent general election. Wait and things might get no better but at least their people get to stay in their jobs and implement a few sops, such as a carbon tax in the next budget. But while the latter may be what the party leadership wants, getting 66% to agree might be a bit much.

The Last Word with Matt Cooper is broadcast on 100-102 Today FM, Monday to Friday, 4.30pm to 7pm. Who really runs Ireland? by Matt Cooper, published by Penguin, is in bookshops now.