Comments on: Do What You Have To – Just Don’t Do It

By: The Forward March of Sinn Féin - Halted. « The Cedar Lounge Revolution

The Forward March of Sinn Féin - Halted. « The Cedar Lounge Revolution — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 16:43:52 +0000

[...] and for more on this consider Michael Taft… [...]

By: Brian Boru

Brian Boru — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 14:45:00 +0000

As long as the Left continue insisting that they will go in with FG and not FF, they are (99% of the time) ruling themselves out of govt. The electorate do not share the political-left’s fixation with ‘getting FF’. Until they realise that they will languish in Opposition.

By: Delphinian

Delphinian — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 12:32:27 +0000

Being a party of principle is no good if you can never go into government. How will a party survive if they get the opportunity to go in but don’t take it? What chance have a party got in opposition of having any of their policies implemented? Politics is the art of negotiation and parties in a position to do so have an obligation to examine the possibilities. Maybe there will or maybe there won’t be a deal done between the Greens and FF. The membership of the Green Party will decide whether a coalition will be formed if a deal is struck. But the left is a long way off becoming a major player in Irish politics. Simon is right, there is not the votes or support out there for the left block. There are 166 seats in the Dail and 134 of held by center-right and right parties and candidates. (Indeed you could throw some Labour TD’s into that equation too).

Ireland is a center-right country politically. The only chance for the left to influence government or get policies implemented is to do a deal. Government in this country will always be made up of two alternatives – a FF led coalition, or an inter-party government led by FG. That is not just the way it is, it’s the way it always has been and will be for the foreseeable future. Either way, the left parties will have to deal with a bigger center-right party. And I hope the Greens do a deal. I think they would be good in government. And I don’t think they’ll suffer at the next election if they do because I think it would be a successful government. They could be a good watchdog (PD’s not suited as nearly all ex-ff). And would you really like a FF and extended family government on their own? If the Greens get in and can get some of their policies implemented, that I believe will only be of benefit to them. Bertie isn’t going to do the full term and Cowen may be more palatable to the Greens in the long run. This is a chance for the Greens to get into government, and if it proves successful, then I think they will be staying in government.

By: Dan Sullivan

Dan Sullivan — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 11:33:51 +0000

I believe that there won’t be a FF/Green deal and that we are looking at another election inside 18 months.

By: Gordon DAVIES

Gordon DAVIES — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 11:10:33 +0000

I agree with Brian Boru – if the Greens go into coalition with FF they will demonstrate that they have no intention of ever forming a progressive, ecological and sustainable government! They will have confused, as so often happens, conservation with conservatism.

Can you really imagine Messrs Sargeant, Gormley, White and others sipping champagne in the FF tent at Galway races, or cutting the ribbon to open the M3… or are they so hungry for the trappings of power that they are prepared to sacrifice most of their principles.

Gordon

By: MEP

MEP — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 11:03:59 +0000

Rubbish. The Greens decision will rather determine whether they are a party of government at any cost or a party of principle, which stands by its commitments.
Deciding not to go into government with Fianna Fail will not mean the Greens are not a party of government, it will just mean that there are far too many insurmountable incompatibilities for them to enter into a Bertie-led government.

By: Brian Boru

Brian Boru — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 10:45:51 +0000

The Greens decision will determine whether they are a party of govt, or just a party of protest.

By: MEP

MEP — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 08:00:33 +0000

The Greens have staked their reputation over the past two years on bringing down the very party (ies) they are now negotiating a government programme with. They were to the forefront (and rightly so) in criticisms of Teflon for receiving wads of cash from business men, having no bank account and stating that there was nothing wrong with that. How can they now go into a government led by the same man they tried to convince the country is a crook? It would just shatter all credibility and alienate voters like me who were happy that someone was finally willing to call the crooks ‘crooks’.

By: WorldbyStorm

WorldbyStorm — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 23:49:45 +0000

deek, why is it garbage for people on the left to argue for a left alternative? If one is playing a long game it’s an issue of how many of your policies can be put into place. Do you think that sufficient Green Party policies will be enacted, or is it that you aren’t of the left and are just projecting?

By: deek

deek — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 23:24:10 +0000

At last Simon. Mr Tafts points are a reiteration of the same garbage written all over tye place, particularly a like minded buffoon on the village website. I agree with Simon completely. After contesting an election – what is the point of not attempting to ‘play the game’. Do you not want to put your policies into place?