By-elections: The Green Party has called on the voters of Meath and North Kildare to elect one extra Green TD, thus giving the party seven deputies and the right to higher status within the Dáil.
The party leader, Mr Trevor Sargent, said yesterday that parties with seven deputies received a number of extra privileges, including the right to ask questions daily of the Taoiseach in the Dáil. "The agenda the Dáil deals would shift" if the party won either of the upcoming by-elections, he said.
Mr Sargent launched his party's campaigns for the March 11th by-elections yesterday, saying people need Green politics.
The party's candidate in Meath, Mr Fergal O'Byrne, said the key issue in the county was the "woeful" lack of infrastructure. His counterpart in Kildare North, Cllr J.J. Power said his constituency had many of the same issues as Meath. "As a part of the greater Dublin area we are suffering from the same problems," he said.