Donnelly calls for Greens to reject deal

The local face of the Greens is urging his party colleagues to vote down the programme for government negotiated with Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.

The results of all three parties’ votes on whether to accept the deal will be announced on Friday, June 26, almost five months after the inconclusive election was held. If the deal is not passed, and the traditional big two continue to refuse to deal with Sinn Féin, the party who amassed the largest first preference vote, another general election is the likely outcome.

The electoral college system adopted by Fine Gael gives the parliamentary party a greater say, making a positive vote almost certain, despite the party’s youth wing opposing it. Fianna Fáil require a straight majority from its 15,000 members to approve it but they operate a one member one vote system. All eight Fianna Fáil councillors sitting in Cavan County Council (now seven since the departure of Shane P O’Reilly from the party) voiced their opposition to the deal with their arch rivals, fearing “serious if not irreparable damage to the party” if it goes ahead.

This stance is shared by TDs Eamon Ó Cuiv and John Lahart, yet the party are widely expected to endorse the programme, paving the way for party leader Micheál Martin to become the next taoiseach, albeit on a rotational basis, when the Dáil sits on Saturday.

The programme requires a two thirds majority of the Green Party’s 1,962 members to pass. A quarter of its membership reside north of the border, but only 195 of those have registered to vote on the proposed coalition. The leader of the Green Party in the North, Clare Bailey, has called for a ‘No’ vote.

Tate Donnelly was one of four candidates to stand in the last General Election who has put his name to an open letter to Green Party members in the northern half of the Republic.

The young politicians argue that the document gives them no confidence that the next government will take “effective, fair and enduring climate action while also addressing the crises we face in housing, health, homelessness and agriculture”.

They dispute the description of the programme as a ‘Green New Deal’, instead branding it “a greener business as usual”.

They accept the public is anxious to see a government formed, and the climate crisis requires “urgent action”, but they conclude: “To be fast, climate action must be fair. Policies that hit the most vulnerable in society the hardest and exacerbate inequality are neither just nor effective.”

The letter proceeds: “We accept that a ‘no’ vote comes with uncertainty, but we must make our decision based on the evidence before us. That evidence consists of the Programme for Government, the track record of our potential coalition partners on issues of climate and social justice, and the successes and shortcomings of junior coalition partners in recent governments.”

Calling for members to vote against the proposed programme, the letter concludes: “We want to realise a just transition to a zero carbon future. What is on offer in this PfG and the proposed coalition is not this.”

Other signatories to the open letter were fellow general election candidates, Julie O’Donoghue, (Roscommon-Galway), Seán McCabe, (Meath East) and Saoirse McHugh (Mayo).