Greenwash

Just back from the Green Party Special Convention on the Programme for Government, held at the RDS Concert Hall today. I must say, it was deeply disappointing.

The standard of contributions to the debate was reasonably high, with most of the delegates very aware of the issues, especially NAMA. But when the printed copies of the PFG were handed out, I quickly turned to the page on electoral reform, hoping the Greens would have used this once-in-a-lifetime leverage on Fianna Fail to secure real change in our deeply flawed political system. But it was not to be.

Instead of immediate changes to the numbers in the Dail, the voting system, even the continued existence of the Seanad; all of which were achievable in these negotiations, all we got was a promise of an electoral commission to "examine" the issues and report back within 12 months.

This was the one, and perhaps only time, when genuine change could have been wrought to our hidebound and corrupting political system. But the Greens bottled it, opting instead for vague, nitpicking promises on education and corporate donations, which won't make a blind bit of difference to how we are governed and can be easily ignored by any incoming FG/Labour coalition in the event of an election.

We had a chance to remake Ireland as the democratic republic of the people its founders dreamt of. Instead, pedantry and narrow-minded horse trading were the order of the day, from politicians who have made a career out of backscratching. Needless to say, the poor old taxpayer was completely ignored, as none of these spending plans were costed.

What we needed to see today were the fruits of vision. What we got was a shopping list any county councillor would have been proud of.