Sowing (modified) seeds of discontent

The Green Party is becoming the butt of much fun and scorn these days. At the PD conference Mary Harney ruled out doing business with them because she said their policies were "crazy" while Fianna Fáil regularly exults in recycling John O'Donoghue's put-down that Ireland needs the Greens like a head of lettuce needs slugs.

Of course it's all part of a strategy by the Government parties to undermine and destabilise the prospect of an alternative coalition taking shape. What better way to create doubt, fear and uncertainty among the electorate than to portray the Greens as a bunch of loonies and by highlighting policy contradictions between them and their prospective partners in a Rainbow coalition?

John O'Donoghue, the Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism, leads the charge for Fianna Fáil. On a recent current affairs programme he was clearly enjoying himself when taunting Fine Gael's Richard Bruton about the Green Party's policy of banning the export of livestock from this country. It was a carefully designed missile aimed at causing as much confusion as possible in the ranks of the Blue Shirts, the party traditionally supported by farmers.

And then there's Willie O'Dea, the Minister for Defence, who rarely misses an opportunity to underline differences between Fine Gael and the Greens on EU foreign policy. The Greens, he says, want the EU to move away from the creation of a European army, but such a position, he points out, would be anathema to Fine Gael. "As we all know Fine Gael believes that Ireland should be one of the architects of any new EU defence system," he says.

On the PD side, Tom Parlon is a past-master at employing the Green scare. During the local elections last year he issued several press releases poking fun at Green policies.

A press release on 3 June 2004 stated: "The Greens are a party so off-the-wall they claim single use products (eg soap, surgical gloves, toothpaste) are the 'spawn of the devil and intrinsically evil' (Green Website, Dublin South East). This is the party Fine Gael want transfers from and want to bring in to government with them. How about some truth in policies, Enda?"

But the Greens say their policies are being deliberately exaggerated. Take the issue of live animal exports: "It is being conveniently distorted by Fianna Fáil," says Steve Rawson, the Green Party's press officer. " The Green Party has continued to campaign for the humane transport of animals and are in favour of the phasing out of live animal exports over time but not until there is an equivalent economic benefit for Irish farmers."

In other words, the Blue Shirts can sleep easy in their beds at night. A ban on live exports isn't going to happen anytime soon whether or not the Greens line-out with Fine Gael and Labour in a Rainbow government. When it comes down to it, the Greens are likely to be as pragmatic, compromising and ambitious for power as any other party when the political arithmetic is sorted and the deals are done after the next general election.

Quite apart from the ridicule heaped on them by political rivals, it could be argued that the Greens haven't exactly helped their own cause in the past year. An arbitrary list of own-goals might include: the botched bid to run Eamon Ryan for the presidency; the party's dismal showing in the local and european elections, not to mention the controversial election posters featuring pictures of tomatoes and wind turbines. Next weekend, the party faithful gathers in Cork for its annual conference. They will, no doubt, have much to talk about.

Ursula Halligan is TV3's Political Editor and Presenter of The Political Party on Sundays, TV3 at 5pm