Restoring Green Pride

Deirdre deBurca had some interesting things to say over the weekend in this article.

I'll admit that I have frequently disagreed with what Deirdre has had to say in the past, but I agree with the following points she raises.

"I believe that the Green Party needs to address some key issues now in order to make a stand for its core policies and principles and to re-assert its reputation as a party of integrity:-

• An open enquiry (neither secret nor private) into the DDDA should be set up to establish exactly how this situation came to pass and no stone should be left unturned, even if this leads to embarrassment for current members of the Government. The findings should be acted upon and legislation introduced to ensure that such a situation cannot happen again. Full transparency should be ensured.

• Minister Gormley should immediately remove any remaining members of the DDDA board during whose tenure the agency became insolvent and was brought into disrepute.

• Professor Niamh Brennan told the Oireachtas Environment Committee in December 2009 of the systematic conflict of interest between the DDDA and Anglo. This went right to the heart of the problem that the taxpayer is now left to clean up. However, the three reports to date do not apparently deal with this issue. John Gormley should clarify if indeed such a report has been commissioned.

• I believe that there is a significant danger of NAMA becoming another DDDA on a national scale, considering the wide-ranging powers it will have to develop the land assets it acquires, and the lack of transparency that will apply to its activities due to its exemption from Freedom of Information legislation. I think the Green Party in government has to make a clear commitment to ensure that the activities of NAMA do not result in future planning deals that are not in the public interest, but rather in the interests of a limited circle"

Deirdre's article is also being mentioned over on P.ie. This is what one poster has to say ...

"She (Deirdre) is right about the incredible inability of Gormley in particular to criticise his coalition partners. You'd think from Gormley's speeches that it was FG who did all the rezoning, FG that did all the reckless spending, FG who is the only party to accept corporate donations. If he is so principled, why can't be be honest about his own partner's recklessness? His posing as Mr Proberty seems a big hollow and self-serving when he cannot criticise his partners when they are the ones largely responsible for the actions he is blaming everyone else for".