News from Ireland or What went wrong for the Irish Greens?

Have been in touch with family and friends in Dublin again re what is happening in the Irish Republic following the election of the new government and particularly the fate of the Irish Greens. Apparently they sent a delegation to Budapest last weekend to ask other European Green parties how to rebuild – notice the reference to the Czechs, another party that fell after entering a right wing coalition.


I will be interested to hear from our delegates who were there if they picked up on any of this discussion but I suspect that most conversations were with the Germans and others who hold the European Green Party purse strings, as the Irish party is now bankrupt and without state funds. My brother told me yesterday that they are considering becoming an environmental pressure group. Probably advisable as I cannot see them rising from the ashes for a long time, unless they totally rid themselves of their leadership, although the current leader has stood down.


Meanwhile Bronwen Maher, now in the Irish Labour party, and who I will be meeting in Dublin, has written about the new situation there: “I'll also send an email soon on my observations on how Labour is coping with FG (too many deja vue moments for me, who remembers too clearly how it all went pear shaped with my last party). But there are differences, Labour has a large cohort of backbenchers who wont be easily manipulated and Labour have a definite mandate to be in Gov. Otherwise its incredibly depressing there is no strong voice in the Dáil on environmental matters.”
Bronwen’s husband, Steve Rawson, a former Head of Media for the Irish Greens, has also written this interesting piece on what went wrong for the Irish Greens.

Grim warnings in all of this for those who do not sup with long spoons when having supper with right wing coalitions – and that can include the New New Labour Party, witness Ed Balls’s recantation of his former position on the cuts.

Here is a satirical sketch on the type of PR driven election broadcasts which featured in the recent Irish general election and which have some similarities with their counterparts in the UK.