The Greens are falling apart nationwide. Many young members of the party are leaving. Young people have forced the hand of the government in many serious issues over the last number of years. Some of these topics include the marriage referendum (2015) and the 8th Amendment (2018). Some of these young people who affected such great change in this country are now denouncing the one party that had a shred of dignity going into this new government. That dignity is long gone and the young party members are following suit. Now, it probably won’t force the Greens to exit the government but it will have lasting effects down the line. Fine Gael weren’t in favour of the marriage referendum or the repeal the 8th campaign, remember?
Julie O’Donoghue is the latest former member to leave the Greens. The most high profile stalwart of the part was Saoirse McHugh. The General Election candidate posted a lengthy thread on Twitter explaining her reasons but nobody with a lick of sense could blame her. As part of the ruling government the Greens have voted with the government against a number of motions this past month. The most recent one as well as the most contentious was the vote to give three super junior ministers a raise of €16000 while reducing the Covid payment, or the Pandemic Unemployment Payment. They also voted with the government to not even discuss the PUP further.
Hazel Chu, the Lord Mayor of Dublin, is a member of the Green Party. Her husband, Patrick Costello, also a member of the Green Party and TD for Dublin South Central, voted with the Greens and the government against discussing the PUP policing and cancellations. He then went on the radio and Twitter saying how unfair the situation was regarding people’s GDPR. Now, Mr. Costello may well just want to keep the peace and keep his seat in government by abiding by the Party rules. However, when you come on social media and claim to be disgusted then there comes a time when you need to step out of line and take on the tyrannous empire.
The Rathpeacon Rambler 