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“We are committed to remaining in government but that is not an open-ended commitment”
Read more about: Green Party 
That above quote was given by Dan Boyle to Reuters today, the pressure mounting within Cabinet and in the Dail generally could well collapse government. Speculation and tittle-tattle are everywhere but Dan Boyle is sending a signal that may well put the Greens in the footsteps of others who have walked from coalition with Fianna Fail over principle.
“We are committed to remaining in government but that is not an open-ended commitment,” Green Party Chairman Dan Boyle told Reuters.
…
“If it comes down to compromises in relation to (the) political system getting involved or being identified in terms of individuals of political parties with the ongoing sharp banking practices then that would cause us to review our position,” he said.
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“Ireland’s credibility has been dealt a massive blow because of a failure of regulation and the sharp banking practices which have caused significant damage to our international reputation,” Boyle said. “In order to repair it information needs to be got out quickly and acted upon.”
Cian,
That’s what all this mullarkey in the Dail is about – forcing an election by forcing the Greens to cut and run. They couldn’t get them to do it on the economic stuff: so political innuendo about tents and ‘golden circles’, basically a reversion to civil war politics and invective, will do fine. It doesn’t really matter whether any of it is based on anything of substance – after all the break-up of the Fianna Fail/Labour Coalition in 1994 in retrospect appears ridiculous and inexplicable (i.e. a strange story in the Irish Times about a paedophile monk, with the AG’s office starring in the ‘who, what, where, when’ scene.)
The opposition want an election. It looks like they’ll get one and the result of that will be an FG/Labour government. They’re pretty certain about that and the polls support their belief.
The problem is: is an election at this time in the country’s best interests? What will happen to the decisions required to be made on financial institutions and securing our financial system and the fall out from Anglo and all the other stuff Ireland Inc has to do if the current process is disrupted and overtaken by an election campaign?
What will an election, with its clear signal of inability to govern and manage our problems, do for our oh so very important international reputation at this time? What will the individual parties ‘promise’ during the campaign? And given that things will have deteriorated even further by the time the new government takes office, what good is it going to be to people who have already lost their jobs, their pensions and most of the assets they worked for all their lives?
What can we expect from an election and any new government that results from it? I think we can be all sure of one thing, an election now may simply result in the requirement for even more drastic cutbacks in public expenditure that will make the much reviled pension levy look like a Christmas present by comparison.
On the other hand, one could reasonably argue that the government has lost the confidence of the people and that a fresh government with a clear mandate will be in a much better position to deal with the problems we face than the current one. Maybe. I’m personally all in favour of it if the prospect of a new government would fix the problems that confront us and if I could be sure that any election campaign would not be mired in extraordinary bitterness and social division from which it might take a long time to recover. ‘Beware of what you wish for’ springs to mind again.
I can’t help but wonder if someone might have taken my advice from last week and had a chat with John or maybe just Dan.
http://dansullivan.blogspot.com/2009/02/time-for-labourfg-to-talk-to-john.html
please support the lisbon treaty for your great country ireland. There are a number of jedi in both brussels and your green party who are looking out for europe and your country. this will allow true peace and justice to reign on your great nation as a jedi republic.
ps we have a plan to sort out global warming as well
supershadow
http://www.supershadow.com
also…
below are the jedi commandments that are to be followed by all star wars fans effective immediately
(these commandments were done by george lucas and supershadow collectively)
1. thou shalt not question the infallibility of george lucas or his creations
explaination: lucas can only make things that are total in their perfection. if
a star wars film fails at the box office , it is not a failing of lucas.
REMEMBER: George lucas cannot make mistakes!!! It is the fault of you the fans
by not going to the cinema enough.
2. thou shalt spend at least 20 per cent of income per month on star wars merchandise
explaination: a true star wars fan will always ensure the star wars story is continually sold.
We must ensure that our money gets to lucasfilm. We owe it to george lucas. he has
only you (the star wars fan)’s interest at heart.
remember when passing a toy shop,do go in and buy star wars merchandise(figureens, star
wars books etc). do not think of the money , only that you honour lucas with each
purchase.
3. thou shalt always ensure to the best of my ability that all new star wars releases are box office
smash hits
Explaination: a true star wars fan will go to any new star wars film in the cinema at least
30 times!!!. It is imperative that you take time off work, start at the 3:30 showing and then
all the repeat showings until the cinema closes. If all star wars fans obeyed this commandment
all future star wars films would knock titanic off the top pedestal
If you are unable to get time off work, simply calculate the cost of going 30 times and send
this amount to supershadow.com
4. do shalt within my lifetime visit lucasfilm (skywalker ranch) at least once.
Explaination: true star wars fans are obliged to visit sky walker ranch which is the birth place of jedi
when there, please do all the guided tours (their is a discount if all taken together)
however if a star wars fan is coming close to the end of his/her life and has not yet made the
pilgrimage, he/she must leave at least 20 per cent of they’re estate at death to george lucas
and lucas film. lucas will remember that person as if they had made the pilgrimage
5. Thou shalt not suffer anyone to ridicule star wars or george lucas
Explaination: a true star wars fan will not suffer the star wars story, movies , characters, special effects to be ridiculed
by the foolish. ie should a friend or family member ridicule jar jar binks, you must disown that person even
though they may be your flesh and blood. lucas expects nothing less. dont not use violence-just walk away.
the jedi religion is a religion of peace.
^^ ok