INTERVIEW:John Gormley insists he has more experience of government than Kenny and Gilmore combined, writes STEPHEN COLLINS
GREEN PARTY leader and Minister for the Environment John Gormley is satisfied that many of his goals have been achieved after three years in Coalition, and he gives an unequivocal “yes” to the question of whether he would do it all again if he knew of the kind of economic storm that was about to break when he took office in June 2007.
“It was not the most ideal time to be in government. It really tests your mettle, but we have stood firm. It would have been easy to bottle it, but we didn’t; we stood firm in some of the most difficult decisions that any government has made in the history of the State. I think that is a mark of our capabilities.”
Gormley is happy that the right decisions were made to deal with the banking crisis, including the decision to bail out Anglo Irish Bank. “The easiest thing in the world would have been to say ‘let that bank go’, because saving a bank is not popular. It sticks in my craw to do it. But you have to ask yourself, what are the consequences if you don’t do it? You have to weigh that up.”
He says the two independent people brought in to oversee the financial sector, Matthew Elderfield and Patrick Honohan, have accepted that the Government had no choice on the night of September 29/30th, 2008 but to act as it did.
“Now all the parties understood this and came in behind the guarantee that evening, except the Labour Party, and I think that was an act of irresponsibility, because had we not done so, there is no doubt that we would have had a banking failure in this country – and that is something that you cannot contemplate. You can see it on Lehman Brothers and can see it on a larger scale now in terms of Greece.”
The Minister says the Fine Gael position had become contradictory since the decision on the guarantee, because the party now wanted to default on the bondholders. “Sorry, you can do something about the subordinated bonds, but not on the senior bondholders. You can have the luxury of that in Opposition.
“If Fine Gael and Labour were in government tomorrow they would continue with Nama. Would they act contrary to advice of Honohan and Elderfield? I don’t think so.”
Asked about the Green Party’s prospects at the next general election – given its dismal performance in the local and European elections last year – he says mid-term elections are no guide to general elections, and insists that after three years in office he has more real experience of government than Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore combined.
“And this is a time when you need people at the Cabinet table who have experience. To have gone through the fire of government in these circumstances is a learning experience. We are battle-hardened at this stage. I think we would be a useful addition to any Cabinet.
“So I hope people will make their assessment on that basis. We will stand up and be counted, and I genuinely believe the electorate will appreciate at the end of the day what we have done.”
He cites respected ESRI economist John FitzGerald as saying that more has been done over the past two years to redistribute wealth than had been done over the previous 25 years.
Gormley claims credit for the Greens for the decision to transform the regulation of the financial sector by bringing in Elderfield from the outside, and breaking precedent to appoint Honohan, an economist, as governor of the Central Bank.
“We have changed the political culture here. The Green participation in government has brought about major changes,” says the Minister, who points to the fact that an “environmental pillar” has been introduced to social partnership to ensure sustainability is integrated into economic decision-making.
Gormley concedes that at times participation in Cabinet has been a battle of wills and the Greens have had to survive some testing moments, but he insists his party has not engaged in ultimatums with their Coalition partners.
“I recognise there are times when it is not easy for them. There was a guy at the gate (of Leinster House) shouting about civil partnership; shouting and roaring that the Greens were ruling the roost, and I am sure that Fianna Fáil get plenty of that, so sometimes it mustn’t be easy for them.”
He says the priority now was to see full implementation of the renewed programme for government. “We have to ensure that we leave a very strong mark if we want to continue on the changes we have made to political culture – for instance the ban on corporate donations and the setting up of the electoral commission.”
He points to the legislation on animal welfare, wildlife, planning and the Dublin mayoralty, which the Greens want to get passed before the summer recess.
“We want to see very substantial progress being made on all of those matters. We have been told again and again that we are on target to have the publication of the Mayoralty Bill. It is an enormously complex, big piece of legislation, and we are running out of time this term.
“I said to the Taoiseach that if it was necessary, we would have to sit for longer in July or whatever. We will see how we go. We certainly have to have more Friday sittings to get through the legislation,” he says, repeating his resolve to have the mayoral election in the autumn.
He expresses astonishment at the scale of the opposition to his animal welfare legislation, but insists that he has taken account of the concerns of Fianna Fáil TDs.
“It is incorrect to say that I have not listened, because I certainly have. I am a reasonable person. That was even acknowledged by one of the Fianna Fáil backbenchers, Mattie McGrath.”
He says his officials couldn’t understand what was going on. “I have said I don’t want to see any undermining of the greyhound industry, and I will ensure that the amendments I am putting forward will continue to support the greyhound industry, as we have a thriving industry in this country – but what I cannot countenance is making an exception for a breed of dog.
“If you make an exception for one breed of dog, the owners of other breeds of dogs will come forward and say you have to make an exception here. I can’t do that. I was asked to make an exception for hunting dogs. I can’t do that.”
He says he had put forward a series of amendments which had been given to the Taoiseach and to Government chief whip John Curran.
“I hope at the end these amendments will be acceptable, but the idea of having an exemption for one particular breed just doesn’t stack up. It can’t be done and my officials have said that. I think the amendments will go a very, very long way to allaying the legitimate concerns of individuals.”
Despite all the difficulties of office, Gormley says that government has been a fulfilling experience.
“Touch wood I have had very good health. I haven’t missed a single day, haven’t even had a cold, which is unusual, given the so-called stress levels of this job. I sleep soundly, and my family are in good health and they enjoy it as well even if they don’t see me as often as I would like.
“Mostly it is very fulfilling and challenging, and very difficult as well.”