BACKING THE PARTY Mayo Green Party members who travelled to Dublin on Thursday last to vote on the historic Programme for Government with Fianna Fáil, from left: Edel Hackett, Dr Caroline Fitzgerald, Shirley Piggins and Ed Hopkinson. Pic: Conor McKeown
Mayo needs more Greens
Áine Ryan
THE GREEN PARTY in Mayo needs to be significantly overhauled and to urgently focus on winning seats in the 2009 local elections, according to long-time activist, Ms Edel Hackett. The Westport-based Public Relations guru was among a small number of Greens from the county who attended last Wednesday’s historic Mansion House meeting which endorsed the party’s entry to Government.
“In my view, we need to completely regroup in Mayo and attract new members. We also need to start working now for the local elections and to be careful about choosing the candidates we put forward,” said Ms Hackett.
She conceded to The Mayo News that the Green’s General Election outcome in the county had been ‘disappointing’. County Mayo’s candidate, Mr Peter Enright, received 580 first preferences, less than the 2002 result.
The poignancy and sense of irony was palpable for Edel Hackett as she walked through the historic gates of the Mansion House at 1pm last Wednesday afternoon. Unquestionably, she had mixed feelings as she passed the lines of Irish Anti-War Movement and Save Tara protestors. After all, historically, the Greens were a party of protest.
Throughout the long ten-day negotiation process she had teetered between excitement about the Greens’ prospects and apprehension about its government partners. She was preoccupied about the outcome of the process and how she should, would, vote. In the end, it was to provide a positive legacy for her children that swayed the Dublin native, who was the Green Party’s first Press Officer, and who once shared an office with Trevor Sargent and his wormery in the Dáil.
“I want my children to inherit a positive legacy, not a negative or diminished one. The Greens are the only party that will really commit themselves on energy and environment. They have also achieved a smallish influence on children’s policy by gaining an extra €300 million for education,” said Ms Hackett.
Edel Hackett observed that she is bizarrely known in Westport as ‘the woman who walks her children to school’.
“It’s a shame and rather telling that I should stand out for something so normal as walking. I mean my house is only ten minutes from the school. Actually, that’s another positive contribution to the Programme for Government, the Greens have introduced an increased funding commitment for safe walking and cycling routes,” she continued.
For Edel Hackett, like many Green Party members, an alliance with Fine Gael and Labour would have been preferable, as a fundamental change in government was the ideal.
“The choice was a return to the ‘Night of the Living Dead’, as I call the 1997 formation of government, or for us to enter coalition. Of course, as I walked into the Mansion House, I was hoping that all our concerns would be addressed in the document [Programme for Government] but knew pragmatically they wouldn’t be,” added Ms Hackett.
She said that while the call, unanimously endorsed by the National Convention, for an Independent Commission into the Corrib gas project did not – like many of the party’s priorities – make it into the Programme for Government, the negotiators had fought hard for its inclusion.
“We know the negotiators fought long and hard to have it included but, despite the fact they didn’t manage to, they can now fight for such issues from the inside,” she observed.
According to Ms Hackett, the time has come for the Irish Green Party: it is time to tackle the huge repercussions of climate change, and lip-service is no longer enough. She conceded, however, that there was huge disappointment among some members, citing Patricia McKenna as one high-profile example of a dis-enchanted constituency within the party.
She also lauded the Green party adherence to true democratic values and particularly Trevor Sargent’s ‘huge integrity and selflessness’.
“Trevor is the greenest of all the Greens. If more people in government had some of his qualities, Ireland would be a much better place. Lots of deputies have failed to step down for much bigger issues,” concluded Edel Hackett, referring to Deputy Sargent’s resignation as leader.
Deputy Sargent is to be appointed a Minister of State by the Taoiseach.
