The upcoming contest for the Green Party leadership should not be seen as "a second vote" on the party's decision to enter coalition with Fianna Fáil, one of the two candidates, Minister John Gormley, has said.
In a separate development, he has promised to appoint a Department of the Environment official to "liaise directly" with the Green Party's city and county councillors and town council members.
"It will mean a hotline into government departments for Green Party councillors," said Mr Gormley, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.
"A contest for the leadership is healthy in the same way as the debate in the Mansion House was in the best interest of the party," the Minister wrote in a letter sent last night to party members.
"Unfortunately, many commentators are viewing this leadership contest as a second vote on whether we should enter government. I hope internally, at least, it won't be seen as such and that you will make your mind up on the basis of who is best able to lead the party at this stage of our development," he said.
Welcoming the decision of former Dublin MEP Patricia McKenna to enter the race, Mr Gormley said the decision of the outgoing leader Trevor Sargent to stand down was courageous.
Calling for support, Mr Gormley said that he would strengthen the power of the party's national council "so that it becomes the source of new ideas and policies for government.
"This will engage and empower the party membership. I want the members to have ownership of this project," said Mr Gormley, who is the party's chairman. "Now that we are a party of government we need someone in government to lead us. This is how most parties and indeed all Green parties in government operate."
Meanwhile, Fingal county councillor David Healy, who was one of those to vote against the coalition deal with Fianna Fáil, is expected to take up a paid adviser's post in the Department of the Environment.
This is separate from the planned appointment of an official to liaise with the Green Party.
Since the election, Cllr Healy has served as an unpaid adviser in environment, and his formal appointment is expected to take place if Mr Gormley is elected as party leader.
Cllr Healy was closely involved in Fingal County Council's decision to set new housebuilding standards that are 60 per cent higher than those demanded by the State.
First elected to Dublin County Council, Mr Healy served from 1991 to 1999, and was re-elected in 2004, where he strongly opposed some planning rezonings that have subsequently been investigated by the Mahon tribunal.
He was one of the co-authors of the report , Telling It Like It Is: Ten Years of Unsustainable Development in Ireland, which was submitted to the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 1992, and he co-authored Fossil Fuels, Subsidies and Emissions of Greenhouse Gases from Fossil Fuels.
