Sentator Deirdre de Burca has resigned from the Green Party citing a loss of confidence in leader John Gormley. Her resignation letter spells out exactly what many have been thinking about the Greens for a long time.
She accuses the party of being hungry for power :
Any suggestion that we challenge Fianna Fáil, or face it down over important issues, seems to bring up a great fear in us that we will have to leave government. In fact staying in government appears to have become an end in itself now for the Green Party. While I was always aware that our political inexperience as a party would leave us vulnerable to being manipulated by Fianna Fáil in government, what I hadn’t predicted was the strong attachment to office that appears to have developed since we became part of government.
Of course that’s part of it and something I’ve said before. However, Green support of FF policy has been an act of self-preservation as much as a quest for power. They could have taken down the government over NAMA but knew if they did so they faced almost a total wipe-out at any election.
It is clear that Gormley enjoys his Ministerial position though, even so far as joining in with the limo set, and that if he’d had any ounce of morality left in him the Greens would have pulled out of this sham of a government a long time ago. The excuses about being able to dictate policy from the inside were laughable, the only dick in the Greens was Fianna Fail’s as it rode them over and over again.
De Burca accuses Gormley of being ‘unable, or unwilling’ to take a stronger line with FF over various issues. Seems reasonable. Gormley has never struck me as a powerful, decisive man. How he, or anyone in the Greens, ever expected him to be able to cope with the experience and slieveenery of the most powerful and corrupt politican organisation in the country is beyond me. But it’s about time somebody from the Greens, or recently ex of the Greens, said it out loud.
They might have gone into government thinking they could make a difference but they were allowed nothing but token gestures to keep them onside as FF continued their plundering of the country. Then supported them as the best people to get us out of the situation they got us into it. As I’ve said before you don’t go to your rapist for counselling.
Bottom line though is that not many people who voted for the Greens at the last general election did so to see them go into government with FF. It was a betrayal of their voters and, of course, their own principles. They have propped up this current administration to the point where they’ve foisted NAMA on us, plunged generations in debt and done little to solve the problems we face. We’re a placid lot, really, but when public sector ‘work to rules’ and strikes and job losses and increased taxes and lack of opportunity really start to hit home then we could find ourselves on the cusp of civil unrest.
That is what the Green Party have brought to this government and Gormely will go down in history as one of Irish politics biggest fools. I’ve had issues with Deirdre de Burca before as she toed the party line, but fair play to her for resigning and not pulling any punches as to why (is that swish European job still up for grabs, btw?!). Despite the fact the resignation of Senator is hardly a killer blow, let’s hope there are others in the party who might, now that the gates have been opened slightly, feel the same way inclined and put an end to this travesty at last.
Whatever philosophy the Green Party hoped to bring to Irish politics has been utterly destroyed by the ‘me feinism’ shown by Gormley.
That will be his legacy and it is not a good one, and it is not as if the warning was not already there with the demise of the PD’s as any kind of lucid force.
The only way now for the Green Party to even attempt survival is to withdraw support from the coalition govt.
Otherwise obliteration beckons.
As a green voter all my life – past tense – I agree with you 100% twenty.
Gormless disgusts me. De Burca might have jumped ship for other reasons but I really couldn’t give a fuck about them anymore. I hope to god this governemt falls soon so that we might all have a chance for a future.
*government
*typing with one eye. big black pirate captain eye-patch on my left eye, can’t see shit. You’d be proud of me captain
If you got together with Apey who has a closed right eye you could rope each other together and cover all the angles like the PushMePullYou on th’oul Dr Doolittle cartoons.
BBC Radio 4. Next.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00qld0v
The Greens could well have regained support if they voted against NAMA. I wrote an e-mail to Gormley a month back regarding the M2 being too close to Newgrange (Tara all over again).
No reply.
The Greens are a joke. I voted for them last night and like itchy says, never again. I hope they fall into a hole with no bottom
Gormley will be remembered as a type of Irish Chamberlain, waving his little “Peace-in-Our-Time” paper in the air and grinning like an idiot while there’s an almighty shit storm, of which he is partly responsible, gathering right behind him.
I want to know which Green Lorcan the Lion voted for last night.
No reason needed for posting this link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugailEn8U5o&feature=related
It’s the political membranes of this great nation that have catapulted the Greens to their maddening heights and we have to be mindful of that. What solace is there to take in the accompanying chatter other than reinforcement of our own ideals and beliefs, many of which run contrary to the those of the hoi-polloi? Personally, and I speak metaphorically here, I think the Greens are cunts.
Are you a red-headed Mexican Jorge?
When the Greens joined, Fianna Fail showed them holy grail of never ending power. No going back now. They’ve joined the international club of corruption. Nameless bank accounts in the Cayman’s with all the Mafia and child traffickers.
My hair is constant, not red. But brown. I do have freckles and I come from a small village in Bolivia called borris-in-ossory
tis far from the hoi polloi you were r’ared.
Why haven’t the experts on RTE and the dude from the irish independent mentioned this as major factor in the euro move against the dolla? All they’ve said is greece and germany; this is bigger.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8512480.stm
Last night, of course I meant ‘last time’.
We should withdraw from the EU, I think. And bring back the punt. The most excellently rhyming currency ever
If this is malicious then that cunt joe duffy has a lot to answer for.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0212/dublin.html
Why didn’t George Lee do something similar, and resign his seat with FG and stay in the Dail?
If he had any credibility, he’d still be there.
The Greens are going to go the way of the PD’s at the next election.
toronto. If George Lee had done just that and become an independent he could in fact have made up the numbers for all independents in the dail to speak as aprty. i.e get all the rights and MONEY associated with been a party. He missed that trick. Along with other tricks. Fucking baby.
I heard a good argument between pro and anti Winter Olympians from Vancouver on Radio 4 this a.m. Sounds like it could be an interesting riot starting tonight. Did I say riot? I mean Olympics.
Fair play to her, at least she showed some balls- the first one of the greens who has. Won’t save them though, I doubt they’ll get even one seat come next election. Historically, collaborators are generally much more despised than the enemy.
Itchy: There are protests and potential riots taking place today. What they did in Vancouver was to close down safe injection sites, places that have contributed to saving lives and property, and lowering crime, infections and assosciated health care . All part of sweeping the undesirables out of sight while the world watches. It keeps the sponsors happy. Not that i’m cynical or anything…
George Lee: spoiled princess. Interesting that that opportunity to give independents was missed. Could that happen if some supported the Government and some were against?
…to give independents funding was missed…
I hear several firefighters have been overcome by smoke and the uncontrollable urge to eat ice cream and some chips, and a soda, and some chocolate and maybe some chinese food, gummy worms, lasagna, rice, chicken and a burger
I have had the same experience with the Greens HM. Slowest fuckers to answer emails. Very fucking annoying since we’re paying the cunts.
Gormley is definitely Cunt-in-Chief though and totally compromised over the incinerator farce. He has no credibility left. The sooner they all get on their bikes and fuck off the better.
(Or the brakes fail in his Prius)
Itchy – guarantee you there’s Joe Duffy influence in that fire.
this great nation
Jorge – do you work for the Irish Sentinel ?
Ireland – the country of forty shades of green…voters.
She’s a handsome woman.
Can they get Duffy for incitement?
You really should have gone to Specsavers maggot. She looks like a posh horse.
I agree with Maggot. She’s meat and three veg. Plenty there to satisfy a man with a hunger.
Joe Duffy always talks about things that are only relevant to the age of his own kids, teenagers now.
Pat Kenny is the same, I well remember the two of them whining about childcare when their kids were small.
Joe Duffy definitely whipped up hysteria about head shops, and if I owned one, I’d sue him!
As for the Greens, they are only interested in getting to Europe as that’s where the money and power really is, we’re just a nuisance to them.
Anyone else notice the expensive haircuts they’ve all been sporting since they smugly went into Government?
A long way from the decidedly woolly dos they all had before, especially Gormley, the bastard!
As
Mind you , I did find this disturbing picture.
Yes I would, all three…
which orifices and in what order ? Just curious like.
It’s Valentines weekend after all… sure I’d leave no stone unturned in my quest to find all of those missing…
We do not need to know, thank you.
Guys, please, have yiz no standards?
You’ve been around these parts long enough to know that that is the most rhetorical question of all time.
We’re well on our way to having forty shades of green.
We do not need to know, thank you.
Sorry, a topic more appropriate for the forum ?
We do not need to know anywhere
You prude!
My concern is for those who are missing, and these Shinners know where they are, just saying.. :)
I am not a prude. I simply do not wish to know about your increasingly perverted proclivities for female politicians
Hard to miss Mary Lou – she’s a big lass and glow in the dark orange
Gormless says it’s all bollix. Will 20 retract ?
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/0212/breaking96.htm
I simply do not wish to know about your increasingly perverted proclivities for female politicians
A Carson Moment!
So you WOULD be interested if they were male politicians ?
Haha, but no.
And retract what?!
The slurs on the Green party of course – Gormless has
dismissed the criticisms outlined in her letter of resignation as “entirely without foundation”.
He’s a lying cunt
he he he
FF and the Greens is such a schoolyard gang scenario.
“Youze little puffs go to the shops for us we won’t beat yiz up reeh?”
“Eh, yeah ok B-Bertie, do you want to hit me now or after I get back?”
Thump! Funt!
“Go on yiz fuckin’ fairies”
More from the Greens
Non-Irish kids are dregs, says Green Party schools spokesman Gogarty
http://tinyurl.com/yk4ka2x
De Búrca gets a pension but not till she is 65. She stuck the Seanad for 2 years. Nice one.
Gormley gets his ministerial pension after June 2011, himself and that cunt Ryan intend to cling on util then and then the pair of them don’t care any more.
I think Gogarty was mis-quoted there in fairness. I think he was speaking in support of these children saying that they are in danger of becoming the dregs of society because of the lack of cutbacks in English language lessons. That article is disingenuous reporting by hacks. There’s an awful lot of shit flying around in the Irish press. Very few worthy journalists left.
Eh, correction:
Because of the cutbacks (not lack of).
I think this was a chance for the greens, especially Gormley to put their hands up and say something like ‘yeah, we haven’t done as much as the people who put us here would have wanted and we realise their frustration, but it takes time…etc etc’
Instead, to come out and essentially say ‘Nothing is wrong’ and dismiss some very direct criticism from someone who has worked very closely with you shows a complete disconnection with reality in my opinion.
Perhaps she was trying to strongarm a stronger role for herself by threatening to hurt the party and perhaps her ‘bluff’ was called and i’m sure there’s more going on here than meets the eye but the whole thing, coupled with the George Lee situation is a disgrace, it really shows how closely we’re coming to a full scale political emergency in this country.
smoking, kick-ass response from deburca
http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0215/deburcadstatement.html