Stand with Tibet - Support the Dalai Lama.

For what it’s worth (I remain skeptical of the efficacy of online petitions, but I feel so strongly for Tibet that I signed this one anyway) here’s the link:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/tibet_end_the_violence/

What the Chinese have done to Tibet and its culture and people since their illegal invasion all of 50 years ago is outrageous, but has been studiously ignored by the rest of the World for selfish economic reasons. Tibet has even been removed from atlases as a country and merged with China.

11 September 2007

Dear Secretary,

I have been a member of The Green Party for nigh on 10 years. Joining the Party was a very big decision for me since I had hitherto regarded all politicians and political parties with suspicion and contempt in varying measure depending on the person or party. My decision to join was therefore taken only after months of deliberation and soul-searching. What eventually persuaded me to join were the core principles espoused by The Green Party which very closely mirrored my own and which I reiterate here for convenience:

• The impact of society on the environment should not be ecologically disruptive.
• Conservation of resources is vital to a sustainable society.
• All political, social and economic decisions should be taken at the lowest effective level.
• Society should be guided by self-reliance and co-operation at all levels.
• As caretakers of the Earth, we have the responsibility to pass it on in a fit and healthy state.
• The need for world peace overrides national and commercial interests.
• The poverty of two-thirds of the world’s family demands a redistribution of the world’s resources.

The set-up of The Green Party, with each member having a single vote, and all members being entitled to vote on any and every item up for decision by the Party, was another powerful attraction. The Ulster Unionist Party is the only other party that can claim such egalitarian credentials on the island of Ireland.

What distinguished The Green Party from every other party at that time was that it didn’t have a leader, which was particularly attractive to me since I believe in the primacy of the individual as espoused by Proudhon - not in the primacy of the group over the individual as enforced by the status quo, nor in the primacy of a tiny elite over the mass of humanity as vested in dictatorships, nor even in the primacy of the majority over the minority as practised by the many and varied democracies on the planet.

That all changed when the membership of The Green Party voted to have a leader. If my memory serves me correct, those who mooted the idea did so as a means to give the Party a focus with a view to making it more media-friendly and thus more likely to get attention from the media, and as a consequence be taken as a “serious party” by the hoi poloi. I, with some misgivings, was one of those who voted to have a leader. I now see I was gravely mistaken, as voting to have a party leader has proven to be the crack that let the rot in.

The recent decision taken by a minority of The Green Party membership to go into government with that Party that stands for all that is detestable and execrable in both the human person and the political entity (corruption, dishonesty, lies, deceit, greed, the nod and wink, retention of power at any cost, the One Party state - in short: the triumph of the mediocre), is proof positive that The Green Party has succumbed to that rot. And, yes, it was a minority decision by the membership - I remind you that the 86% that voted for going into government was 86% of around half the membership. I regard this as a clear disenfranchisement of those of us who absolutely couldn’t make it to Dublin mid-week to vote due to family and work commitments since no effort whatsoever was made to accommodate us.

Much soul-searching and deliberation has lead me to conclude that The Green Party which I joined all of 10 years ago no longer exists. I emphasise that I am not leaving The Green Party - The Green Party has left me. I am not resigning from The Green Party - The Green Party by its actions detailed above no longer deserves and may no longer count upon my support.

I, as sole arbitrator of my destiny, do hereby assert the primacy of the individual, and in that capacity do hereby tender notice of my intent to ritually cleanse my person of all and any vestiges of the current self-styled Green Party at a date and in a manner I deem appropriate. Therefore do I demand that you cease all communications so ever with my person and desist from plying me with Green Party literature be it by snail or electronic mail from this moment.

Yours sincerely

____________
Patrick Stack

John Gormley TD., the new Minister for the Environment, was yesterday elected leader of the Green Party by 64.5% of the vote. His rival, Patricia McKenna, received a surprisingly high 35.5% of the vote.

As a member of the Green Party for the last decade, I was entitled to vote which I duly did. I voted for Patricia McKenna for the following reasons:

1. I like her outspokenness - for me she represents the more radical side of the Green Party, and she is not afraid to say what she thinks without worrying too much about how it will be taken up or perceived by others. This is the sort of honesty that is almost completely lacking in politics in this country.
2. I agree with her stance on many issues including the (illegal) use of Shannon Airport by the US war machine to transport its troops to the killing fields of Iraq where they routinely murder civilians (if you think I’m exaggerating have a read of The Nation.)
3. She is a woman, and we need far more women in positions of power and decision making in this country to counteract the patriarchal “old-boy” bullshit inherited from our erstwhile British “masters” and all too eagerly subscribed to by the Status Quo that has ruled and misruled since the foundation of the State all of 86 years ago.
4. I could not bring myself to vote for John Gormley, after his betrayal by taking the party into government with the utterly corrupt and morally bankrupt Fianna Fail. The compromises on some of the Green Party’s core principles were a step too far and amounted to a sell-out.

John Gormley is seriously mistaken when he says that the sizeable vote for Patricia McKenna in yesterday’s leadership election does not represent a vote on coalition but only a vote for leader. It does! I know that there are many in the Green Party who have misgivings about where the party is going, and this was most definitely reflected in the 35.5% vote for Patricia McKenna. I myself have grave misgivings about the path the Party has chosen to go down.

The Green Party has gone into coalition with Fianna Fáil, and their fascist poodles. What has not been reported by the media is the fact that the 86% that voted for this was 86% of roughly half of the membership. The other half couldn’t for various reasons make it to Dublin mid-week to vote. In my case it was just not possible to drop tools to make the journey, much as I wanted to. I won’t bore you with the details.

In going into government with Fianna Fáil, the Green Party has sacrificed some of its core values and principles in return for a chance to implement some of its policies in the fields of energy and the environment. Exactly how much of its policies the GP will succeed in implementing remains to be seen. Let’s hope it will be extraordinarily successful for all our sakes.
Personally, this past week has been traumatic. The party of which I have been a member for almost a decade has chosen to go into coalition with a party which I despise, and in the process jettisoned a couple of core principles which I hold dear. As a result, I can no longer remain a member of the Green Party. This is not a case of me leaving the Green Party but of the Green Party having left me. To my mind one cannot compromise on a core principle and still claim to hold that principle. That is exactly what the Green Party has done. It’s called being “pragmatic”. Well, that sort of pragmatism is not for me. I will be “clarifying my position” to the Party in due course.

The one positive thing that has come out of all of this is a second poem appropriately entitled “On the Greens going into coalition“. That, and the realisation that I have to be true to myself.

The Green Party delegates at today’s conference have voted by a large majority (86%) to go into Coalition government with Fianna Fáil. The margin is surprisingly wide - I had expected it to be a lot closer. I haven’t seen the document incorporating the agreed programme for government yet. But it can’t be bad considering that a large majority of half of the entire membership voted for it.

We have to wait until tomorrow after Bertie Aherne is voted in as Taoiseach to see what ministeries the Green Party will get. I’m hoping they’ll be meaty ones - Minister for the Environment and Minister for Transport would be good ones.

The weather reflects my mood this evening - a steady rain from leaden skies drenching everything - with the Green Party Conference taking place in the Mansion House in Dublin. As a member of the Green Party I’m entitled to vote but only if I am physically present. Unfortunately it is not possible for me to make my way to Dublin mid-week due to work and family commitments. Needless to say I’m not happy about this, but there is nothing I can do except to wait for the outcome of the vote.

Regarding the vote itself, it is difficult to say how it will go, but I think it’ll be very tight whichever way it goes. A number of my colleagues in the Clare Green Party have managed to make their way to the conference and will be voting. I know that several will be voting for the deal as it will mean a chance for the Green Party to influence policy from within and, in the process, shut up all those who constantly make ridiculous and inaccurate statements about Green Party policy for once and for all. Equally I know several that will be voting against the deal on principal.

Initially, I myself was utterly against going into government with Fianna Fáil for many reasons, but on reflection I saw that this is the best opportunity the Green Party has of getting into Government and getting at least some of its policies implemented. In the past week, I have swayed between for and against. Suffice it to say that I still don’t know how I would vote were I in Dublin tonight. I would be making my decision on the strength or weakness of the deal on offer. I think many of my Green Party colleagues are in a similar position.

As a long-time member of the Green Party/Comhaontas Glas, I have very mixed feelings - as do many of my party colleagues - regarding the party going into government with Fianna Fáil. Fianna Fáil stands for everything I detest. It was therefore with relief that I heard the news late Friday evening that the talks had finally broken down.

Now, apparently the talks have resumed! I don’t know what’s going on and I don’t like it.