Senator's Resignation Vilifies Gov and Greens

In a week that has already seen one high profile departure from a major political party, a Green Party Senator has also announced her resignation.

Her vilifying open letter to the party's leader - which contained her resignation - is expected to rock the coalition between the Green Party and Fianna Fail, Senator Deirdre de Burca – who has been an elected member of the Green Party for eight years – said she had "lost confidence" in Party Leader John Gormley.

Ms De Burca described daily meetings during which the party discussed "very real" problems in getting Fianna Fail to co-operate with them in implementing policy initiatives that were agreed as part of the Programme for Government.

Ms De Burca spoke of her deep frustration and strain between the two jointly governing parties and accused Fianna Fail of "stonewalling".

"From stonewalling us and trying to unravel key aspects of our policy initiatives being implemented, to ignoring our input into the preparation of new legislation, to reneging on two key agreements made between Party Leaders, the Fianna Fail Party continues to ‘run rings’ around us and to take advantage of our inexperience and our very obvious fear of facing the electorate," Senator De Burca said.

Addressing John Gormley directly, Ms De Burca said: "Despite the fact that you have been asked on many occasions over the past few months by the Parliamentary Party to take a stronger line with Brian Cowen and the Fianna Fail party in relation to certain core issues, you have clearly been unable, or unwilling to do so."

The senator said it was with great sadness that she tendered her resignation, having served as an elected member of the Green Party for eight years on Wicklow County Council and for a further two and a half years as a member of Seanad Eireann.

Ms De Burca said that during that time she had worked faithfully on behalf of the party to try to advance its political agenda in order to put this country on a more sustainable path.

However, in her closing remarks, Senator De Burca said she believed that as Party Leader, Mr Gormley had "done a disservice to the Green Party".

"We have lost our way as a party and I am sad to say that it has reached a point where I, and most of the people I know, will be unable to vote Green in the next election.

"I don’t take this decision to tender my resignation lightly. I am very clear however that I do not want to be part of what the Green Party is continuing to support in Government.

Yours sincerely," the letter concluded.

(DW/BMcC)