The Green Party and the Bus to Oblivion

24th January, 2009

Thursday was a bad day for the Green Party. 2 of their councillors resigned and one of their TDs published an article which pretended they were not in government regarding Dublin Bus. This was also the day the Cabinet met to find €2 billion worth of savings in public expenditure. Their insularity and self absorbtion at a time of national difficulty maddened me. It prompted me to the below statement.

“The last time I checked, the Green Party were in Government. And yet I continue to hear people like Ciaran Cuffe TD, self-styled Green Party “spokesman” on transport, “calling” for things. The latest instance of
this is his article in the Irish Times calling for a reversal of cuts to the Dublin Bus network.

Now I know that his party’s mantra has always been that it was in coalition to forward its own agenda and get its policies implemented. All else would be left to Fianna Fail. I was unaware that the Greens had decided that public transport was a Fianna Fail issue now. It seems the need to concentrate on the Battle Against The Lightbulb is paramount.

As an aside, the practice of the (very) junior coalition partner appointing “spokespersons” on issues began in the dying days of the PDs, in an effort to disassociate that party from the poor decisions of the then Government. Will the Greens be taking the bus to oblivion?”