Green party activist sues leader Gormley in Europe

[mmrebel]

A PROMINENT Green Party activist has lodged an official complaint with the European Commission accusing his party leader, environment minister John Gormley, of failing to implement EU directives designed to reduce the amount of waste being put in landfill.

Fergal O'Byrne, who was the party's candidate in the 2005 Meath by-election, fears the government's inaction will cost Ireland millions in fines after the introduction of stringent new EU landfill targets next July.

His complaint includes a letter from Gormley in which the minister admits that the amount of waste being diverted from landfills must double within 18 months to avoid "the risk of infringement proceedings before the European Court of Justice (with the potential of substantial fines"). Although the minister is confident of meeting the targets, O'Byrne said he was ducking the issues.

"He says we can magically deal with the waste in some other way but he doesn't have the means to do it because our party has set itself against incineration. In my view, city-based incineration is the only solution to this mess."

O'Byrne denied that the complaint was linked to tensions in the party between its leadership and its grassroots members, some of whom believe Gormley has compromised the party's green credentials to cling onto power.
read the full article http://www.tribune.ie/news/article/2...ley-in-europe/


Looks like makings of green civil war here no matter how they dress it up

[He3]

He favours incineration of municipal waste in Irish cities, according to the article, which puts him at odds with EU policy, science and medical research.

Gormley is on the side of the angels on this one.

And the Trib really should know the difference between writing a letter to the Commission and suing.

[amblincork]

Gormley's objection to city based incinewration is mainly based on the fact that it is politically inconvenient for him.
he is quite happy to ignore the ' polluter pays principle' for the sake of votes.
This is one of the most hypocritical of the Greens policies

O'Byrne denied that the complaint was linked to tensions in the party between its leadership and its grassroots members

this notion of trying to blacken the reputation of people objecting to the leaderships policies surfaced in cork in the dispute between Boyle and Chris O Leary where 'tensions' and ' personal reasons' were cited again and again to suggest Chris O Leary was being difficult rather than standing on a matter of principle.
Hunger for power really does seem to be Gormley's main motivator.

[He3]

Amblin, incineration means the polluter doesn't pay, the people whose air is polluted do.

Of all the ways we have to manage waste, setting fire to it is one of the dumbest.

[Question R24U]

Gormley's objection to city based incinewration is mainly based on the fact that it is politically inconvenient for him.
he is quite happy to ignore the ' polluter pays principle' for the sake of votes.
This is one of the most hypocritical of the Greens policies

O'Byrne denied that the complaint was linked to tensions in the party between its leadership and its grassroots members

this notion of trying to blacken the reputation of people objecting to the leaderships policies surfaced in cork in the dispute between Boyle and Chris O Leary where 'tensions' and ' personal reasons' were cited again and again to suggest Chris O Leary was being difficult rather than standing on a matter of principle.
Hunger for power really does seem to be Gormley's main motivator.

I simply do not understand this accusation: what is the point of politics unless it is to get into power? Absolutely nothing is achieved from the opposition. Ever.

[Geoffrey]

He favours incineration of municipal waste in Irish cities, according to the article, which puts him at odds with EU policy, science and medical research.

Gormley is on the side of the angels on this one.

And the Trib really should know the difference between writing a letter to the Commission and suing.

Yes. It looks like the substandard, bargain basement hacks at the Trib can't get their stories straight.

[soubresauts]

... what is the point of politics unless it is to get into power? Absolutely nothing is achieved from the opposition. Ever.

I seem to recall some odd statements from Question R24U in the past, but that is the oddest yet.

Of course this idea of "being in Government is the only game in town" is the one that FF seduced the Greens with. The late Seamus Brennan, in particular, used the idea very effectively both before and during the coalition negotiations. Sweet-talking Seamus made the idea so attractive to the Greens that they were prepared to trade almost everything they had for a sniff of power.

As Green Party insider David Healy put it, immediately after the Greens' Mansion House vote to get into bed with FF:

In conscience there is no way I could support a programme for government which will see a continuation of military use of Shannon Airport.

But even if I were to ignore my conscience, and the victims of war, the deal struck is a terrible one. No key Green demand has been met:

* No end to corporate donations
* No change to M3 through Tara valley or to any of the road-building programme
* No new public transport commitments
* Hospital co-location to go ahead

What about climate change? The programme for government contains a 3% target for annual reduction of greenhouse gases. There is no earthly way that this will be met without a fundamental change in transport policy. And there is no change to transport policy...

Cf also this.

[amblincork]

I simply do not understand this accusation: what is the point of politics unless it is to get into power? Absolutely nothing is achieved from the opposition. Ever.

At one level I understand your point but I suppose I was suggesting that for people like Gormley, being in power is an end in itself. The same is true, I suppose for most FF politicians as well given that the great wealth generated during the good years has simply been disipated. What did in the end Bertie Ahern stand for ?
I dont know, he seems to have been the ultimate 'willow tree' politician bending whatever way the wind blew.

The Greens in opposition did serve a very real purpose. They brought global warming on to the national agenda and highlighted corruption in a very real way.
Gormley's Planet Bertie speech was masterly in it's way but now, given the Greens acquiesence in Ahern's corruption, it has become the rod to beat the Green Party with.
The speed with which the Greens turned themselves inside out to accomodate Ahern is truly embarassing and Gormley and Boyles tributes to Ahern on his retirement were sychopantic and humiliating.
Yes for those who believe there should be some idealism left in politics, it would have been far better that the Greens should have remained in opposition.
For the Greens their last general election victory was a pyrrhic one.