A chara, - Your Editorial "Greens Elect Leader" (October 8th) made interesting reading but concluded on a puzzling note when it emphasised "negative campaigning" as the basis of our election platform. Green Party policies respond to the ills created by inequality, pollution and wastefulness by setting out innovative solutions, many of which have been implemented where Green parties have already been in power.
Your Editorial mentions a number of our campaigns. Opposing traffic gridlock is a vital part of pressing for a modern, efficient public transport system.
Opposing the "burn it or bury it" attitude to waste is a vital part of forcing waste reduction measures as part of a zero-waste strategy. Highlighting the causes of human and indeed animal sickness is the first step in putting in place a healthy environment to minimise sickness in the future.
The challenge for the Green Party is to ensure that the solutions to the problems get more coverage than the prostestations. The world on which Irish economic development depends does not have an inexhaustible supply of cheap fuels and raw materials. So there is a certain urgency about this challenge to make economic activities sustainable. - Is mise,
Trevor Sargent, TD, Leader, Green Party, Dβil ╔ireann, Dublin 2.