Sir, – I read with interest the reflections of Sadhbh O'Neill on the need to build bridges to young, social justice-tinged members of the Green Party following the adoption of the programme for government ("Generational divide in Green Party cannot be glossed over", Opinion & Analysis, July 1st).
The debate within the party was bruising for that cohort. Many have come away feeling maligned and unwanted.
Ms O’Neill would know this better than most. On June 19th, she said Mayo candidate Saoirse McHugh should leave the party and join Éamon Ó Cuív to form the “fudgy pothole party”. On June 23rd, she publicly questioned what party 21-year-old Fingal councillor Daniel Wooley represented when he suggested that the Greens could talk to Sinn Féin should the programme for government not pass. In May, she was quoted in the Irish Examiner as saying that young idealistic members opposed to entering government “have to ask themselves whether they’re in the right party”.
Ms O’Neill’s attempt at bridge-building is welcome and correct, but for the young members she insulted throughout the debate, it is salt in the wounds unless it is accompanied by an apology. – Yours, etc,
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Cllr OLIVER MORAN,
Green Party,
Montenotte, Cork.