The Issues at the Green Party Convention Tomorrow?

Tomorrow’s conference provides one of those major museum-type situations in politics, where an actor is stripped of cover in their decision making, all the academic modelling and assumptions (rational-choice, culturalism etc) go out the window and the nitty gritty of deciding things takes over. This is something that anoraks will get very excited over and well they should, in power Green Party internal democracy will inevitably be put under pressure. The demands of a centralised partner in government will exert pressure on their Ministers to deliver decisions on the spot.

So tomorrows display of party principle is of interest for more than one reason, not least for its impact on negotiation so far. So what is it that Green members will be zooming to in what is likely to be an extensively wordy document?

First off are those four principles which Trevor outlined on Friday that caused so much problems last week;

·Measures to tackle climate change, including forward-thinking transport and congestion solutions

·Funding to bring the education system into the 21st century

·The transformation of local government, including action to modernise the decision-making and planning processes

·Reform of the health care system

However the Green Party have played a tight game with information which leaves them in the position to influence party members who are unaware of what exactly were the problems and what exactly was dealt on. This might mean that headline issues such as co-location, planning and party funding will be of interest to many Greens. Surely though there are vital areas of the Green agenda beyond this that members will be hoping to see in a programme for government.

Undoubtedly the Green Party will have to move on many issues, though something tells me a few manifesto commitments will be more important to members as they read the agenda tomorrow, such as (I have left out ones which I didn’t think FF would let near the neogitations);

• The proposed all-party commitment to a 3% per annum cut in CO2 emissions and a carbon levy of E20 per tonne of CO2
• Luas lines for Cork, Galway and (possibly) Limerick as commitment to public transport
• Free GP care for children under six
• Reduce VAT by 1% (there was also a proposal to increase CGT to 25% but that is unlikely to get near the table)
• Planning (I have copied this from the manifesto since it is clearly central);
  Require local authorities to have Masterplans to specify the forecasted transport, education, community service capacity requirements and to inform the Department of Education of new zoning decisions and changes to County Development Plans that have implications for future educational needs.
• As we were reminded by New Green Man in the comments, the Greens had three main aims for coaltion;
  * Tackling climate change
  * Reforming local government
  * Providing top-class education for all children

I leave it up to ye to kick those around, though I am interested by Seamus Ryan‘s post earlier today on the following other issue for the Green Party; “There is a unique opportunity now for the Green Party to put their mark on the proposed new government and to ensure that the ending of the use of Shannon Airport by the US Military is part of their Programme for Government with Fianna Fail. Or will this be the first principle to be sacrificed in the quest for the ministerial merc!!”
No doubt the document will be scoured for any mention of the issue and what emerges from it.