The founder of the Green Party in Ireland has warned that a coalition deal with Fianna Fáil could lead to the "wipe-out" of the party.
I suspect that in five years that anger, if anything, will become worse and it could lead to the wipe-out of the party.
Green Party founder Roger GarlandRoger Garland, who became the Green Party's first TD when elected to the Dáil in 1989, said this morning he felt "betrayed" by the decision of the party's current leadership to consider entering government with Fianna Fáil.
Mr Garland said he was "very concerned" about the future of the party and described reported concessions made by the Green Party negotiating team, including those on the use of Shannon airport by the US military as "unbelievably bad".
He argued that Green voters did not want to see Fianna Fáil returned to power, and warned that to become junior government partners with them would put the Greens at serious risk.
"I think the Green Party are the only party with real ideas, and I think the present voter mood . . . is extreme anger," Mr Garland told RTÉ Radio. "I suspect that in five years that anger, if anything, will become worse and it could lead to the wipe-out of the party."
In defence, Dún Laoghaire TD Ciarán Cuffe insisted the deal brokered with Fianna Fáil contained pledges on climate change, political reform and other initiatives and would provide an unprecedented opportunity to implement Green Party policies.
"I think we've made a huge amount of gains over 25 years. I think we are poised to make significantly more gains," he said. "It's a good deal, not a great deal. But on balance, I think it's worth going for."
Last month, the Green Party said a comment by Mr Cuffe on his blog that a deal with Fianna Fáil would be "a deal with the devil" was made in a personal capacity and did not reflect party policy.
"Let's be clear. A deal with Fianna Fáil would be a deal with the devil. We would be spat out after five years, and decimated as a party," Mr Cuffe wrote.
Meanwhile, anti-war campaigners are to stage a protest outside the Green Party meeting in Dublin today over its compromise on Shannon airport.
A group comprising the Peace and Neutrality Alliance, the Irish Anti-War Movement and the NGO Alliance has called for a mass protest. The meeting begins in Dublin's Mansion House at 1pm.
It emerged last night that the Greens have accepted that Iraq-bound United States military flights will continue to use Shannon airport.
A compromise on Shannon means that Dáil approval will be required before any non-United Nations mandated military flight will be allowed to land, but this will not interfere with the Americans' current use of the airport, since they now operate on a UN mandate.
Anti-war campaigner Richard Boyd-Barrett said in a statement: "For the Greens to enter into government with Fianna Fáil and allow the US military to continue to pour through Shannon on route to kill and be killed in Bush's bloody war would be a monstrous betrayal of the anti-war movement and those that voted for them."
"Surely the blood of innocent men, women and children, counts for more than gaining ministries and political power. I appeal to the Green Party - both its leaders and members - not to sully their hands with the blood of innocents murdered by the US war machine
Mr Boyd-Barrett narrowly missed out being elected on May 24th but received over 5,000 first-preference votes in Dún Laoghaire, the constituency served by Mr Cuffe.