FOR A party caught in an economic hurricane, Green Party ministers were remarkably composed at their weekend conference when they offered quiet reassurance and direction to their supporters. They have come a long way in a short time, in terms of party management. There was no question of histrionics, of cutting loose from Fianna Fáil and quitting Government under pressure. They were there to implement Green Party policy and to do right by the country in difficult times.
In an accomplished political speech, John Gormley distanced himself from failed Fianna Fáil policies; promised radical reform of our financial, political and planning systems; threatened jail on corrupt bankers and white collar criminals and invited the opposition parties to engage in a national consensus on budgetary decisions. After two years in Government, the Greens were not part of the problem; they were part of the solution.
Promising radical reforms at a party conference is one thing. Having your ideas accepted and implemented by your senior government partner is a more difficult prospect. Going by its past record, Fianna Fáil will resist measures to make political funding transparent. So, by pledging to introduce the “most radical legislation on political funding ever”, Mr Gormley may have offered a hostage to fortune.
Elsewhere, the relief at not being responsible for the economic mess was palpable. But while recriminations were absent from ministerial speeches, some elected members were not so restrained. Concerns about corrupt linkages between banks, business and politics were high on the agenda. Dublin Mid-West TD Paul Gogarty told Fianna Fáil: “If in doubt, we will pull out”, when proposing the party should formally review participation in government next year. But the leadership was having none of it and the motion was defeated.
The departure of Bertie Ahern because of his tribunal difficulties had offered some relief at last year’s conference. There was no such comfort on this occasion. Hard times lay ahead, Mr Gormley warned: a threat to our very independence. If we did not work together, the country would face a crisis beyond our comprehension. But if we cooperated, we could emerge with a stronger, fairer and more just society. Green Party delegates were in their element. They were no strangers to unpopular measures, such as a carbon tax, designed to save the world. Their policies had moved centre stage. It was their most professional conference to date but there was no hiding the pitfalls that lie ahead.