”It's not easy being green.
It seems you blend in with so many other ordinary things.
And people tend to pass you over
'cause you're not standing out…”
Kermit from the Muppets
It is reported that the Greens have a deal in place to rotate their cabinet seats to ensure that they all get to experience life as a cabinet minister. What are they playing at? Its highly unlikely that they will withdraw from Government so why all this posturing? They know that if they force an election that they will lose all of their seats and signal the end of the party. Messrs Gormally and Ryan want to limp on until June 14 to qualify for a ministerial pension or risk returning to their previous positions working in a language school or organising cycling safaris. Not an enticing prospect for people who have displayed such affection for the trappings of office.
Swapping a ministerial seat so another TD gets a profile boost to help save his seat is not a rational move for one whose own future is so precarious. Perhaps John Gormally wants to be mayor of Dublin or it may have something to with not wanting to defend the Dockland report or putting another €6 billion into Anglo. The thought of having to defend a report whose central player is Seanie Fitzpatrick may also be too much for him. If this is the case then it is a pity he does not display some semblance of integrity and leave Government instead of playing political games.
It would take at least a year for a new minister to get the hang of his/her role. So ministers only really begin to produce policy initiatives in their second year. Gormally is only now in a position to produce and implement policy but is apparently jacking it in to share the goodies out among his fellow sandalistas. Insisting on giving his buddy a go on the swings at our expense. This is cronyism at its absolute worst. It brings the credibility of the green party to a new low.
A cabinet seat rotation such as this was introduced by the Greens in Germany in the 1980s. It was quickly abolished because it made their parliamentary work more inefficient. It’s a pity our eco-mentalists refuse to learn from their mistakes. Or perhaps now that they are in coalition with Fianna Fáil they have abandoned their original agenda and like the Normans of old they have become more Irish than the Irish themselves. Cronyism, double standards, and the convenient jettisoning of principles are traits that they appear to have learnt all to easily. They were taught well.
Outside of his rapidly shrinking party John Gormally is not going to be missed at the cabinet table. His legacy does little to inspire. Remember that the Greens are complicit in allowing NAMA to happen. Remember too that among other things he allowed a motorway be built through Tara. The toxic dump in Cork harbour is still there. He allowed the building of an incinerator in his own constituency. Hare coursing continues while in a recession he spends €70,000 counting frogs. He implemented a bike scheme providing bicycles without cycle lanes. Contaminated drinking water continues to exist all around the country and let us not forget that he also promised that if in Government he would remove fluoride from all drinking water in his first year in office. Locally Lough Corrib like many of our waterways is slowly dying and is polluted not to mention the invasion of numerous invasive species. He has failed the electorate and reneged on his promises just so he can dine at the top table. He has sold out on the green agenda and the public are unlikely to forget or forgive.
The Green party is at war with itself and will in all likelihood be wiped out in the next election. Well-done Minister Gormally. Twenty-five years of hard work by the green movement destroyed for some light bulbs and a ministerial pension. The price of one’s principles is surprisingly low!
PS: As far as I can see the only accomplishment of the sandalistas to date was when Dan Boyle twittered that he was uncomfortable with the whole Willie O Dea affair. Thus a twit, an unelected member of the Oireachtas managed to force the resignation of a cabinet minister. You could say that Fianna Fáil were caught with their pants down and but Dan Boyle took out their Willie! Now there is an image that doesn’t bear thinking about!
