The long Green march

The Green Party's John Gormley knows his seat in Dublin South East is at risk in the next election, but believes his Green policies and his presence in his constituency will ensure his position in Dáil Éireann

The Green Party is in a good position. The polls are showing that, with the two alternative blocks of government neck and neck, the Greens will more than likely be essential to the make-up of the next government. And according to their deputy leader, John Gormley, they'll be naming their price. “I think we are going to be part of the equation, and if that's the case we will put our demands and see what happens,” he says, adding that “it's a nice position to be in.”

The latest Irish Times TNS/mrbi poll shows the public would favour a government composed of Fine Gael, Labour and the Green Party over the current coalition. But another possible outcome could be a Fianna Fáil and Green coalition, supported by Sinn Féin. Although the Greens are waiting until after the votes are counted to make up their minds on who they will enter government with, Gormley says “our preference would be to get rid of the present coalition.” And that means getting rid of Fianna Fáil as much as getting rid of the PDs: “We don't see much difference between Fianna Fáil and the PDs at this stage, their policies are indistinguishable, they are just two neoconservative parties that have introduced George Bush-style economics into this country.”

At the moment, the Greens are not ruling out entering government with anyone. And that includes Sinn Féin. Before the announcement on IRA decommissioning leader Trevor Sargeant said the Greens would not go into government with a party that had a private army. Now, according to Gormley that is no longer the case: “it seems logical that if the IRA is just a meeting club or whatever for veterans then it would no longer be proscribed.” He says if that is the case “ then our party would consider sharing a government with Sinn Féin”.

So if, as the case seems to be, the Green party are in government, what exactly will they stand for?
Over the next few months, each Green Party TD will bring out policy proposals on their respective portfolios, such as health, education, agriculture and finance. “We are not going to adopt the Fine Gael and Labour strategy of keeping the powder dry until the last minute, because if we do that, we won't get a look in,” says Gormley.

They hope that at the end of this process the electorate will have a better idea of what they are about, which is something they often have difficulty with: “We have a slight problem that people think our policies are just confined to the environment. But they are not”.

In December, Gormley will be publishing proposals on health. He says his policy will mainly focus on primary care, because he believes it can deal with up to 80 per cent of illnesses. He is also critical of Mary Harney's greater investment in private hospitals, which he believes will “compound the inequality that already exists in our health service.”
Gormley says he has “no illusions” about his seat in Dublin South East where Fine Gael is expected to make a come back in the next election, possibly at his expense: “If you consider that Fine Gael once had two seats there then logically you would have to say that my seat is vulnerable. But then again, I've always thought my seat was vulnerable and I've always defied the odds in the past so I hope to do so again.”

But as the first Irish politician to have been contactable by email, Gormley knows what the people want. And in the next election he says constituents will be seeing a lot more of him. “The evidence is showing that the Dáil is becoming less relevant to the electorate, they relate more to local politics. So in the next election, I'll go directly to the electorate and hope that it pays dividends.”