Sir, – One gets the feeling that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are trying to dump the Greens.
I don’t think that this would be a bad thing for the Greens. It would be true to say the Greens today are at a low point. They had a very difficult time in the local and European elections.
They had a great day five years ago when they came back with 12 TDs.
If they come back this time with six TDs after this election, I do think that they would be doing quite well.
Having six Green TDs would in my view put them in the frame to be potential coalition partners, but obviously with a reduced mandate which would reduce their effectiveness.
I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing for the Green Party to be cut loose by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.
They can always say to the electorate that while in government, they wanted to get things done regarding their green agenda but that they had to drag the other two along with them.
When all is said and done, the above narrative might not be such a bad sales pitch to the voters out there.– Yours, etc,
JOHN O’BRIEN,
Clonmel,
Co Tipperary.