A former Green Party member in Tipp has given his opinion on the insinuation that there are cracks in the government parties.
There have been concerns over the coalition following Green Party leader Eamon Ryan’s call for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to stop rowing in public over tax cuts in the budget and to do their negotiations behind “closed doors”.
Paul McCarthy, a former Green Party member and pharmacologist, is in agreement with local TD Alan Kelly, who is of the view that this is electioneering and an attempt to show that there are ideological differences between the two parties.
He told Tipp Today that it looks like the parties are trying to carve out their own identities ahead of voting.
“It’s understandable that Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Greens all want to create an identity badge; they won’t be able to create that identity badge to mark them out as separate from their fellow travellers, and it’s understandable that, in order to do that, you have to have a point of difference. Unless there’s a point of difference, people are going to say, “Well, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have been in bed together for the last few years; what does it matter who I vote for?”
The former Green Party member believes Alan Kelly’s predictions will play out.
“I’m with Alan Kelly; he’s a very savvy politician, and he’s not a populist, and I admire him for that. Populism in politics is basically the death of democracy; it’s a disaster. You watch, as Alan Kelly said, as we get close to the elections, they’ll all be pally-pally and meet up and be in agreement.”
