GREEN PARTY:THE GREEN Party has said its support for any new government in the next Dáil will be conditional on firm commitments to political reform.
Party leader John Gormley said the Greens would demand commitments on a number of “red-line issues” before it supported a government but he declined to specify at this stage what other non-negotiable issues the party would insist on.
Mr Gormley, who was speaking outside Leinster House yesterday immediately after the dissolution of the Dáil, climbed a ladder to put up the first of his posters in his constituency, Dublin South East.
The event prompted wisecracks about Mr Gormley’s famous stand-off with Michael McDowell during the 2007 election campaign as the PD politician was up a ladder erecting a poster warning of the dangers of left-wing government.
Yesterday, the Green leader warned of the danger of electing a Fine Gael-Labour government with a large majority. He claimed the resulting complacency would make it impossible to implement political reforms.
He said he wanted an honest electoral debate that focused on policy and political reform.
“You can’t get that impetus for jobs and recovery until you have a new type of Dáil where deputies can focus on legislation, where you can get in expertise and where you have more women involved.
“That means real electoral reform and not just tinkering around the edges.”
Mr Gormley said the party hoped to retain its six seats and make gains, but he acknowledged that the opinion polls were “not good” and the party was facing a “big hit”.
“Every election has its own dynamic and things change. There’s a huge volatility out there and people genuinely have not made up their minds yet.”
He claimed the electorate was sceptical about some of the promises other parties were making and knew existing cuts would not be reversed.
Mr Gormley also accused other parties of “jumping the gun” by putting up posters before the Dáil was dissolved.
