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We must rebuild trust with voters – Green Party

In an article for TheJournal.ie, incoming Chairperson Roderic O’Gorman says that the party is ‘optimistic’ about the future – but there is a ‘difficult road ahead’.

File photo of Green TDs in 2004
File photo of Green TDs in 2004
Image: Leon Farrell/Photocall Ireland

THE GREEN PARTY faces a “difficult road ahead” to rebuild trust with voters who deserted the party in February’s general election –  but is optimstic about its future, according to its new party Chairperson.

Writing for TheJournal.ie today, incoming Chairperson Roderic O’Gorman says that the party has learned from the impact of the general election result and is rebuilding for the future.

In the piece, O’Gorman says that the Greens can provide an alternative voice in the current Irish political climate:

“A range of political decisions taken by the new Government have highlighted the need for thinking outside of the usual norms of Irish politics”, he says.

“Prior to our entry into Government, the Green Party had a strong record in challenging the consensus on issues such as over-development and the ruinous taxation policies that were at the root of the recession in our country”.

O’Gorman, who lectures in law in a college in Dublin, criticises the government for retreating from its commitment to pass climate change legislation.

The new Chair says that the party will focus on three main areas over the next year – the constitutional convention aimed at reform of the political system, campaigning for full marriage equality, and arguing for social rights to be included in the Constitution.

He points out that the party is being reorganised on an “almost entirely voluntary basis due to our loss of funding”.

O’Gorman ran in the recent Dublin West by-election and almost tripled the number of first preference votes the party received in the same constituency in February’s general election.

Read more: Roderic O’Gorman’s column on why this is a difficult time for the Greens – but there are reasons for optimism >

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Comments (34 Comments)

  • John 25/11/11 #

    LMAO! This has to be the Friday Funnies. Greens will never be trusted, anymore than labour will.

    Reply
  • Useless, deluded whipping boys. Don’t give up the day jobs.

    Reply
  • Jeff 25/11/11 #

    Brother has a 2.2L diesel car uses each day, car tax EUR156, Mum 1.2L car tax uses 2 twice a week short trip, car tax EUR312, 1 of the great ideas of the Green party to save the planet as brother is releasing less Carbon ? yet hitting the poorer in Ireland, so they can feel good over a free trade coffee.. another Green, head in the clouds idea. Its not only that I don’t thrust Greens its that even when you put a policy in place it has been though though by idiots.

    Hope your enjoying the pensions seem to remember you stay in power just long enough to get them.. now go away.

    Reply
  • Simon 25/11/11 #

    I think the difficulty with the Greens is that their mandate is too narrow. Most political parties have taken the green initiative and implemented green-policies, which leaves no room for a party based on those ideologies alone.

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    • Question of public perception perhaps? Green parties across the world, including in Ireland, have policies on all areas of public life, just like their competitors. The fact that other parties have adopted their policies might suggest a smidgeon of success…

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    • Excellent point Simon, I always thought that even their name was unfortunate. There is room for a party that develops policies based on what actually works for the betterment of society as a whole. Too many policy decisions are made based on beliefs and without taking into account the overall picture. Would such a party get any votes from an Irish electorate focussed on ‘mé Féin’ though?

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    • Sorry Donncha but there seems to be a misunderstanding here. If you look at the history of the green movement, its philosophy is premised on approaching each issue in the context of the big picture. To be fair to most other political parties, they would claim to do something of this kind. The fact that we are having this discussion suggests people have different views on just what is the overall picture. Guess that’s why there are different political philosophies and competing parties and movements…

      Reply
  • Green party = tax tax tax.
    Therefor I’ll never ever vote for them again.

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  • As toxic a brand as Fianna Fail. And even less likely to reemerge. At least FF didn’t pretend to have principles. Labour please copy.

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  • Well Im glad to have enlightened you to that.
    Zzzz

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  • They are a joke who helped ruin a nation took away so many young trades peoples futures, hiked up tax on heating homes, hell they even tried to outlaw hunting and shooting, now what kind of idiots are they to think they can saunter back into power go away “green party” and live in a tent in a field somewhere by the way if you are so green you do not need pensions live off the land bunch of muppets

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  • Rebuild trust, that’s a laugh, akin to similar suggestions spewed by the church in this country…bridges burned and all that.

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  • Here they are again. Egits on bicycles this time. As if they don’t use the car or train or plane. Hypocrites and failures one and all. Even their ideology is bogus and they should recycle their S**t on another more EGO friendly planet like perhaps Ur anus.

    Reply
  • They can take a long bike ride off a short pier. Gobshites.

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  • Greens completely destroyed the building industry in this country with the building control act. At a time when the industry was about to fall to its knees, gormley kept pushing and pushing till it broke, causing huge unemployment. Greens should never never be allowed back in power again, they are worse than Fianna fail and should be ashamed to show their faces. Just disband your party lads and go home with your pensions.

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    • So the collapse of the building trade was nothing to do with over supply? I’ll blame those greens for the empty shells of houses on the edge of some place in the middle of nowhere.collapse was due to pure greed

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    • Speechless. Well not quite. Follow the news Ian?

      http://www.myhome.ie/residential/brochure/apartment-3-block-6-priory-hall-donaghmede-dublin-13/124750

      If you have a couple of hundred grand to spare, how’s about this very well presented first floor two bedroom pad in N Dublin…

      Reply
    • The Greens destroyed the building industry? Where have you been for the last 3 years?

      Reply
    • Iain
      The Building Control Act was introduced in 1992 and since then was treated as a piece of inconvenient legislation brought in to ‘europeanize’ ourselves – a piece of legislative window dressing to be conveniently ignored and abused. The building industry was destroyed by Fianna Fail who saw immense opportunities for enabling the circumvention of necessary legislative control (planning and building regulation) for their brown envelope wielding friends in race meeting tents and other chummy gatherings.

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    • Yes I do follow the news, I have been in the building trade for the last 10 years, and the current building control legislation was introduced as a bill in 2006. My post was not a rant it is a formulated opinion from experience and my knowledge of the industry. The oversupply was one aspect, but another was the hugely inflating prices but the costs forced on housing by the building control act and nonsense and poorly thought out building regulations (some not all), with most of the silly ones being at the behest of the greens. Some examples include air tightness regulations, forcing the introduction of renewable energy sources before they were ready for the market, protected title registration, building energy rating for domestic buildings, provision of 25% of houses in development of more than 4 houses at cost price for social housing etc etc etc etc. all these pushed up the cost of construction hugely leading to over borrowing. I addition to this local authorities under the direction and responsibility of a green environment minister ran riot with planning applications for people building houses outside of estates where a simple €32 application turned into a cost running into several thousand for consultants fees which in many cases were unnecessary, again pushing up cost. So i ask, where have you been the last 3 years have you been following the news.

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    • Ok Ian. So the regs were introduced a year before the Greens entered government. The property market was already on bald tyres in 2007, the crash inevitable.

      What renewable energy sources weren’t ready for the market? When did they become available.

      were the Green responsible for the 25% affordable housing requirement?

      Don’t know what you mean when you say “a green environment minister ran riot with planning applications for people building houses outside of estates where a simple €32 application turned into a cost running into several thousand for consultants fees which in many cases were unnecessary”. In 2007/9 we built in such a situation with no consultancy fees. Planning took 12 weeks. The house is built way beyond the modest requirements in the regs and has the kind of renewable energy system you say didn’t exist. It did cost more than a conventional house, but not substantially. We have no oil bills.

      Architects, developers and builders who want to survive the present situation are innovating and getting in to retro-fitting and the building of energy efficient housing.

      So that’s where I’ve been these past few years. Very happy with what’s been achieved, thanks…

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  • I doubt you’re capable of enlightenment if you support the greens.

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  • “Prior to our entry into Government, the Green Party had a strong record in challenging the consensus on issues such as over-development and the ruinous taxation policies that were at the root of the recession in our country”. Haha then we just rolled over and capitulated at every turn, emmm power tasted so good!!

    Reply
    • Think they knew it would taste like a horse shit sandwich. They had a go anyway. Still picking bits of straw from between their teeth. If the comments here are anything to go by (?), rehab is a way off yet. Their main source of sustenance is their association with the international green movement, which is doing rather well some places…

      Reply
  • You pay tax? Good fella…

    Reply

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