This article is from page 14 of the 2011-12-20 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
THE Green Party’s newly appointed spokesperson for European Affairs, Clare councillor Brian Meaney, has hit out at European leaders for fiddling while the Euro burns.
The Ennis-based councillor was named on the party’s new-look front bench by party leader Eamon Ryan last week and believes European leaders need to step up to the plate and really tackle the Euro crisis.
“I am appalled, I am standing back stunned to see what is going on with- in the political structures of Europe at the moment. They are still only tinkering around the edges. The Euro is in a total crisis – it is a currency without a treasury or any institutions that support it and the powers that be think we can just tinker around the edges,” he said.
“We are in a position where there should not be a question whether there should be a referendum or not, the true reform that is needed is so great that it would require a constitutional referendum in Ireland. I do think that people do understand the benefits of our participation in Europe and they will vote to continue it.”
The Green Party have also outlined how the party plans to recover from loosing all of its six representatives in Dáil Éireann in February’s General Election.
“We are a policy orientated party. But the changes will come in how these policies are brought to the fore. I thing you will see a more pragmatic and realistic party who are going to follow policies that are achievable,” said Cllr Meaney. “I don’t like the approach that this government has taken to climate change and we are going to bring forward policies that will challenge the mainstream political thinking. I think we will be able to bring something that will have a deeper relevance for the people.”
One of the party’s first stated aims is to double the number of local Green Party councillors in Ireland in the 2013 local elections. The new front bench contains only two members who have served as a TD or Senator for the party in the past – party leader Eamon Ryan and Ciarán Cuffe.