More news form the Green Party conference in brief.
Vote to restructure decentralisation plan
Green Party delegates voted to restructure the "ill-conceived" decentralisation programme, which the party's finance spokesman Dan Boyle described as a "dead policy". They needed a decentralisation process where people in regional locations could make decisions, rather than decision-making remaining a centralised function.
He was backing a motion by Dublin Central candidate Patricia McKenna, who said people were being "forced to make decisions they just don't want to make".
Fewer than 10 per cent of specialists in State agencies "are volunteering to move, so how can the agencies continue to function effectively and give the taxpayer value for money". The Greens would introduce "real" decentralisation, involving "devolving power to regional and local authorities".
Cllr Chris O'Leary, general election candidate in Cork North Central, said the Greens were the "quality-of-life party" and rejected a policy where people were being "forced to move and intimidated out of their jobs".
The only speaker against motion, Cllr Brian Meaney, the party's Clare candidate, said that since decentralisation had begun, "we in Clare have lost one of the most important drivers of economic development in the region - Shannon Development".
Party split over SF role
Fifty per cent of Green party members are in favour of going into a government dependent on Sinn Féin support, according to a survey conducted at the party's conference. Some 46 cent were against accepting such support and 4 per cent were undecided according to the straw poll conducted by Newstalk radio, which put five questions to 100 delegates attending the conference.
Asked about coalition preferences, 86 per cent said they would prefer to go into Government with Fine Gael and Labour compared to 8 per cent in favour of coalition with Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats and 6 per cent were undecided.
By contrast while 62 per cent favoured Enda Kenny as Taoiseach, 24 per cent would prefer Bertie Ahern, with 6 per cent undecided. Delegates were pleased overall with their party leader's performance. Some 58 per cent described Trevor Sargent's leadership as "very strong", while 34 per cent said it was "strong".
The remaining 8 per cent said it was "good", when given a choice of very strong, strong, good, fair or poor.
Hobbs wants Ahern to go
The leadership of Fianna Fail is badly in need of change and Bertie Ahern needs to be removed, personal finance commentator Eddie Hobbs told the Green Party conference.
He believed Mr Ahern "was a good consensus manager of a growing economy but he is completely devoid of any vision or direction on where they are going as a society".
He also said there should be a "very strong green tinge" to the next Government and that Minister for the Environment Dick Roche's environmental policy was "bombast".