Just had a read of Ciarán Cuffe Green Party TD for Dún Laoghaire blog. Interesting statement about the other two parties in the supposed Rainbow Coalition.
Report of chairs being thrown through the windows of the Progressive Democrats Headquarters on South Frederick Street. Possibly the same chairs that Pat Rabbitte and Enda Kenny used for their phot-op at Dunne and Crescenzi a few months previously. Speaking of which, whatever happened to that Programme for Government that they were working on, or was it all froth from their cappuccinos?Not the nicest thing to say if you were planning to row in behind a Fine Gael-Labour Coalition or even if it was your first choice I would think. Am I reading too much into it?. Now some time ago I heard that Trevor Sergeant said that the Greens would not enter a coalition with Fianna Fail with him in charge . Leaving only the rainbow option. However does Mr Cuffe statement sound like a party locked into the rainbow. That statement would not have been unusual from a PD or Fianna Failer. Anyone have thoughts on this?
5 comments:
Ciarán Cuffe has to get re-elected in Dun Laoighre Rathdown before he can have any role in government. That may be behind his potshots at the other parties.
The Green Party membership has taken a more impartial position on coalition than Trevor Sargent wanted, but I don't know exactly where Ciarán Cuffe stands on attitude to the other parties.
How compediative is Dun laoigre
Simon,
There'll be skin and hair flying, especially in the scrap for young votes.
There are five sitting TDs —Ciarán Cuffe (Green), Fiona O'Malley (PD), Mary Hanafin and Barry Andrews (FF), Eamon Gilmore (Labour). They're all high profile and all relatively young and, broadly speaking, attractive. As far as I know all five are standing again and the constituency remains a five-seater.
In 2002, on a 58.6% turnout, the quota was 8,939.
Mary Hanafin topped the poll with 8,818 votes, Eamon Gilmore had 8,271, Barry Andrews had 7,425 and Fiona O'Malley got 7,166. Ciarán Cuffe got only 5,002 first preference votes. Note there is no sitting Fine Gael TD. O'Malley, Andrews and Cuffe were all elected on the eleventh count, and his biggest blocks of transfers came from Sinn Féin and from Niamh Breathnach of Labour.
Cuffe didn't get transfers from the unelected main FG candidate who was in the race till the end and whose votes therefore were not distributed. So Ciarán is the back marker, and critically needs more first preference votes, particularly at the expense of Fine Gael.
I think the statement is a legitimate statement of frustration. It sounds to me like he was looking forward to seeing the programme and is disappointed that it hasn't come out. I don't think he's characterising the programme as froth ab initio, as you seem to suggest, but is questioning, in the context of a failure to produce it, whether or not the big boys are serious about and hungry for power. If so, it's time to get their shit together.
Seems to me to be an invitation to produce something on which the Green Party can start to negotiate.
Would that be from a Fine Gael-Labour cheerleader blinded by the desire to see Kenny in power. copernicus ;)
Maybe you are right but it is strange none the less
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