Green Gombeenism

So have the Greens become even bigger gombeens than Fianna Fail?

Well, John Gormley said in Feb 2007 "The gombeenism has to end, my friends." Great! So did the gombeenism end?

Of course not. In fact, it got worse under the Greens!

This is an excellent article by Michael Brennan, Political Correspondent of the Irish Independent. The full article can be found at http://www.independent.ie/national-news/greens-taking-state-board-jobs-despite-vow-to-tackle-cronyism-2052983.html

From the article ... "The opposition has highlighted the increase in the number of Green Party members on state boards, which now stands at seven. The most recent addition is former Green Seanad candidate Martin Hogan, who was appointed to the board of Fas last month and will receive around €12,000 in annual fees.

Green Party member Caroline Burrell, who lost her council seat in last year's local elections, was recently appointed to the board of the National Disability Authority.

Green Party Junior Agriculture Minister Trevor Sargent set up a new state quango last year, the Foras Organach -- Organic Food Agency -- and appointed his own special adviser, and former Green Party general secretary, Stiofan Nutty, to it."


Another article on Green gombeenism by Liam Fay is available from timesOnline at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/article7009549.ece

The article highlights the level of cronyism brought by the Greens ... "Take Vincent P Martin, the Green barrister who lost his seat on Monaghan county council last year. Gormley recently appointed Martin to the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB), which adjudicates in disputes between landlords and tenants. PRTB members receive an average of €25,000 a year in fees and expenses, whereas councillors receive a maximum of €11,000.

Gormley also graced the tenancies board with Gene Feighery, another Green stalwart who’s been rebuffed at the polls. Feighery was co-opted onto Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown council in 2007 but was then unable to win a seat.

Then there’s Niall O Brolchain, elevated to the Seanad after voters ejected him from Galway city council. Green bosses hatched a deal with their Fianna Fail confederates whereby O Brolchain was the only government nominee for a vacancy on the agriculture panel, guaranteeing his ticket to Leinster House.

Poll-wise, the Greens are in freefall but the leadership is pulling every string it can to ensure each remaining party loyalist lands on his/her feet. The jammiest of all must be Elizabeth Davidson, a flop in the Dublin South by-election. Thanks to Ryan, Davidson is paid €40,000 per year to watch movies in her capacity as a classifier with the film classification office. For most politicians cronyism is the aim of the game. But the Greens used to claim they were different and defined themselves in brightly coloured opposition to the nepotism practised with such ruthless efficiency by Fianna Fail."

The luckiest of all being Elizabeth Davidson who is paid €40,000 pa to watch movies!!! Who would have thought being a failed Green politician could be so lucrative???

Two lively Politics.ie threads on this subject as follows;
http://www.politics.ie/green-party/103058-chronyism-within-green-party.html
http://www.politics.ie/current-affairs/121944-failed-fianna-fail-green-politicians-paid-40-000-each-watch-films.html