The Great Green experiment - an update

Last saturday, october 6th, the Irish Green Party held a special party conference in Dublin. A sort of "where we're at" explanatory session, coupled with a "where to now?" element of inviting feedback from the party ranks and membership.

Before the rest of the day's business (which included workshops, questions and answers, and hustings for the party chair position, Cathaoirleach), the conference was opened by a series of short, sharp & to-the-point speeches by some of the "key people" in the Party. In my not so diligent notes I collected a variety of soundbites from these speeches, some more inspiring than others but all interesting in that each speaker set their own tone, employed their own particular rhetoric to push whatever message it was they felt most appropriate for what was really the first confrontation with the party membership since the election debacle, the controversial but unprecedented and exhilirating move to enter into government. As a result - a lot of tough punters to be won over, some work to be done in terms of rallying the troops, defending a decision which, despite the firm majority of 86.5% in favour, divided the party in no small way.

Mary White, TD, defended the move with no apologies and in no uncertain terms, calling it "progress" whilst lamenting the futility of "ideas without power". "Carpe Diem", she reminded us, "we have seized the day... We have abandoned the certainties of opposition" and a good thing too, for if we hadn't, "we should not call ourselves a political party, but a lobby group..." and finishing with a pointed flourish - "united we stand".

Dónall Geoghegan spoke briefly to emphasise the "educational job" we have, as well as to point out that the link between transport development and climate change cannot be ignored. Well, yes and no.

Next up - Everyone's favourite, Trevor Sargent, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture - the first to qualify the good news with a reality check of sorts, mentioning that, with 6 vs. 78 in the Dail, there were inevitably going to be "an awful lot of bitter pills to swallow" (this essentially in response to the heckling from some disgruntled hardcore true-green members in the front row). What else did Trevor say? Ah yes, that food security is a huge concern and must be a priority, that Bali is going to be the big one in terms of a make-or-break radical campaign of action against climate change globally, and that all of us in the room better be growing our own fruit and veg (in a slightly patronising tone, with a hint of menace) because we wouldn't want to be seen to be telling the general public to do it if our own members aren't leading by example, now would we? Also - forget intercultural dialogue, turns out 2008 is the year of the Potato, which for Ireland is, of course, a seriously big deal.

The ubiquitous John Gormley, party Leader & Minister of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, spoke next. Firstly to denounce what he described as the excessive "negativity" in the room he was sensing, and then, presumably in an attempt to turn things around, embarked on a lyrical exaltation of our acheivements and their significance. "We have stepped up to the plate.... displayed leadership and courage", and in slightly plainer terms, in case anyone was still unconvinced, "we a doing a good job! We have delivered and we will continue to deliver!" followed by a litany of ways in which we have and are delivering, e.g. green paper on local reforms, etc.

So while Mary celebrated the political advances, Trevor put it all into perspective, and JG lavished on the majestic terms, Eamon Ryan, Minister of the Department of Communications; Energy and Natural Resources, brought things back to basics, to fundamentals.

In a bit of a Gordon Brown-style autobiographical anecdote, he mentioned a particular time in his schoolboy days when he suddenly came to understand the complexity of the world, the "web of life", that the earth is "breathing, it has flows, its own regulatory system..." etc. He described this epiphany as a great "moment of clarity" and if anyone sitting in the audience needed to be reminded why they were here, I think his approach provided this most succinctly, most elegantly and in the most fundamental of terms.

For me, it was not an answer to a question I had been asking myself explicitly, but a moment of realisation. Or rather, a further step in a process of realisation that has been ongoing ever since I first joined the Young Greens on my university campus 3 years ago this month.

Bringing things back to our role, our place in government, Ryan alluded to the lefty bandit-style of politics and view of social justice, that consists of "taking power to give power back". An end to be acheived not through "Revolution, but parliamentary democracy" - something that was later contested during the ensuing debates, but obviously we have not joined a government so as we can subsequently overthrow it. We are now officially playing the game.

All in all it was a day marked by criticism and acclaim. Overshadowing the jubilant mood of the coalition honeymoon were the recent attacks from Labour (The Greens are refusing to take responsibility for anything), the jibes from the socialist workers camp (the Greens have sold out and gone back on everything they ever stood for) and indeed the fierce condemnations from the rank & file, Cllr Chris O'Leary, for example, seemed to speak for all the unhappy grassroots members, who see the party morphing into something quite different, and don't like it one bit.

Despite the bitter pills being forced down their throats however, John G & co did manage to turn things around, and the angry mob were soothed and pacified by their reassuring words, their slick discourse and "cute" demeanour. Looks like they really have all turned into excellent politicians, for better or worse.
The accusation of "selling out" is a tricky one, and one which I fear will not go away, and it's so sad that the majority and the most virulent of attacks seem to be coming from other left-wing parties or groups. But I suppose that's rivalry, and indeed that's politics, the way it always will be - no matter who you vote for, somehow the government always gets in.

Nevertheless. This is now a gouvernment of which at least 6 members know the value of a good, deep breath of fresh air.