Did you vote Green and will you again?

gbh

Maybe this should be in the form of a poll or something.

But I am wondering or interested to know how many people gave the Greens a high preference vote in the General Election and would consider doing so again after they go into coalition with FF?

Its fair to say those who voted in the Mansion House are closer to the levers of power than ordinary voters and are probably councillors, advisors, etc to the Greens hence a certain amount of vested interest. But just wondering is there a perception out there among ordinary voters that the Greens have sold out, or do you agree that it is better to be a Green in government regardless of who with than in opposition.

I suspect only a dunce or the truly prejudiced would disclose how they might vote in 5 years time without having the slightest clue how the greens will perform in the meantime. Presumably if they do extremely well, people may vote for them etc. etc. etc.

fits

I didnt, and I might. Depending on how they pursue their policies.
To be anti incinerator isnt 'green' in my opinion....
That traffic congestion on the N3 isnt terribly green either....

I would like to see good investment into useful public transport... and therefore I am happy that the greens are in government.

loyatemu

I was out of the country but probably would've voted Green.

They wouldn't have achieved anything in opposition so I think they might as well give it a go. I think McDowell said that FF are the like the bread in a sandwich and its the other party that supplies the flavour. We'll see how they do....

Blackhorse Slim

I voted Green. I'm sure I will again, but a lot can change in 5 years.

I don't think the Greens have sold out, and I think a Fianna Fail government will be slightly better for having a Green presence, but I think this is a dangerous move for the Greens. I hope it works out.

John_C

Yes & probably.

Montallie

I voted Green and will not do so again. I might as well have voted for Fianna Fail in the first place if I'd wanted them. This morning I compared a list I had kept of what the Green's policies were with what they got from joining FF, and it seems to me they got no concessions on the most important of their policies. I am deeply disappointed. I had thought that the Greens, of all the parties, were the most principled. It seems now that it really is a case of 'anything for power.'

There are four votes in our house, all of which were used for the Greens, and none of which will go to them again. This is not an idle threat, but has been agreed by the members of a most basic institution of society, a family.

Ardent

Yes and no. I was worried giving them my vote as they wouldn't openly commit to one side or the other - I was afraid they could hop into bed with FF.

You learn from your mistakes as they say.

PopeBuckfastXVI

Yes and Maybe

If they had not entered government given the opportunity it would be Yes and No.

I voted for them to go in, not to snipe from the sidelines.

FF & FG are two sides of the same coin, you couldn't slide paper between them.

SeanW

Yes, and Probably not. FF has repeatedly proven themselves to be shady, disconnected from reality, arrogant and concerned only with getting reelected. Anyone who does business with them, other than Independents, can forget about getting a large preference from me. I foolishly thought that Labour would do business with FF before the Greens, and voted accordingly. Assuming Labour continues its present stance, I'll change mine to reflect new realities.

mickoneill30

No and maybe.
They've got two options. Go into government and try and make a difference. Stay out of government and make no difference. I voted Labour #1 in this election. I doubt I will next time for exactly the same reasons. I'd like the people I vote for to actually get into government. Fair enough if they don't becuase of numbers but if they do it by choice then don't expect my vote again.

MontgomeryClift

Yes, and on the second part, my intention for now is not to vote for a Green candidate again.

nesf

Well, as far as I am concerned, they now have an opportunity to show if they are worth voting for. It's very hard to judge a party that has only ever been in opposition.

Vegeta

No and Never.

Greens are anti any form of hunting and I cant support a party who hold that position.

dreamerbeliever

I gave em a vote, but now to me they are sell outs. They're part of a government that's gonna build a road through Tara and bring in co-location hospitals. Stuff that I thought that the Greens were dead set against in principle.

Darragh29

Yes I did and I can tell you for certain, NO I WON'T!!! As far as I'm concerned, these shower of these sh*tehounds have thrown away every bit of dignity and honesty that I thought they had. Whatever about compromise, which I understand is necessary in life, these people have completely thrown in some core principles, all for the love of a few Mercs & Perks.

Their decision to go into government without having the Shannon issue dealt with shows a pure absence of adherence to any sort of value that they might have had, its like they spent the last 5 years shouting and roaring, "We're 200% against the US military in Shannon" and then they get into discussions with FF and its like, "ah ok, we don't feel toooo strongly about that so we'll throw out that value". It makes me want to throw up.

Villain

Yes I gave Mary White a vote, will I again? well I think to answer that now would be very stupid. I will look at how Mary and the rest of her party perform over the next 5 years or less in Government and then decide where my vote will go.

Darragh29

Trevor Sargeant must be going for the Irish Comical Entertainment Award or something... He resigns his leadership of the party because he won't lead the party into government with Fianna Fail, but having said that, he says he will accept a cabinet seat (a junior one now mind you, careful now Ted, down with sort of thing, ye bad pup!), from the leader of the party that he won't lead his party into government with!?!?!?!?!?!

I've seen and heard it all now I tell ya!

Jonny Arson

Yes, I Green Party and it is highly unlikely I can ever vote for them or even give them a preference again. Particularly difficult for me is that the Green candidate who I voted for has today come out publically to slam this shameful decision by his party for the same reasons as me with regards to the overall poor quality of the deal, co-location, use of Shannon by US troops for war and the destruction at the Hill of Tara. I feel sorry for the minority of Green candidates who stood by their principles and who were not lured into the glare of power jangled infront of them, they have a difficult choice ahead of them to stick with the party or not as votes will be at stake.

timmywex

i cant believe that dan boyle never got reelcted, ovre the last few days, ive found out that he is a sound out man....what a ledge!!

johnnyskeleton

dreamerbeliever wrote:

I gave em a vote, but now to me they are sell outs. They're part of a government that's gonna build a road through Tara and bring in co-location hospitals. Stuff that I thought that the Greens were dead set against in principle.

Or maybe such extremely unpopular decisions will not be made by a FF/Green coalition. Better in than out I say.

Yes, I gave an elected TD my 1 vote. I gave the same TD my vote last time, and unless there is a serious change, will probably vote for him again next time.

I would rather see Greens in government with FF than with FG.

blorg

Yes, and yes. I'm no fan of Fianna Fail but I didn't vote Green hoping they wouldn't be in government. Hopefully this will give the party a chance to prove itself as a "safe pair of hands" and win more wide-ranging support next time around.

Breezer

Yes and more than likely not. I was going to give my number 1 to the Greens but became wary that they might go into power with FF. After struggling with the idea I gave them a preference vote in the end. Never did I dream that not only would they go into power with FF, they would cheerfully abandon almost every single policy that attracted me to the party in the first place.

I voted primarily FG and Labour; FF and the PDs did not feature on my voting card, and now I feel like I have helped put them back into power. I feel cheated. The Greens have an awful lot of work to do if they want me to vote for them again, and I can't see them having enough influence. I can see the next five years being The Bertie Show, Act 3, followed by the Bertie and Biffo finger-pointing and hand-washing game. We'll see though.

I've informed Ciarán Cuffe (my local TD), Trevor Sargent and John Gormley of this and I would encourage anyone who feels similarly to do the same. It might help them think about things.

Liam Byrne

1) Not a high preference and 2) not at all, next time.

A party that sells out on 3 of its core principles before day 1 of the Dail isn't worth having.

And Sargent is a joke....what he said was "I won't lead the Greens into Government with FF", what he implied by that was "We won't go into Government with FF", and what he did was.....erm, "go into Government with FF" :frust:

If he resigned completely and refused to take part I'd have more regard for him. While the PDs have since turned into a despicable and psychotic "privatise everything and screw public services while vested interests make money" party, at least, back in the old days, Dessie O'Malley had principles and resigned when it was required.

Agent Smith

I voted FG, Labour and Green,

will i vote green again? not sure, i'm disapointed a bit that they went into power with FF, but that said, if they implament some good ideas, then i'm sure they will return to preferance list.

Kalashnikov_Kid

To the people here praising Labour for staying in opposition while criticising the Greens for jumping into power: do you honestly believe that Rabitte wouldnt have done likewise and not go into government with FF 'for the good interests of the people' if Bertie had knocked on his door?

John_C

Breezer wrote:

I voted primarily FG and Labour; FF and the PDs did not feature on my voting card, and now I feel like I have helped put them back into power. I feel cheated.

Is it fair to say that you were voting against FF as much as in favour of anyone?

There'll always be people voting tactically to either keep or change the government and there's probably an equal number of them on each side. The greens can't be expected to play the numbers game and aim for those votes. If they get some good work done in government they'll improve their party, it they don't then that's their own look out.

nollaig

I voted Green and will not do so again. I might as well have voted for Fianna Fail in the first place if I'd wanted them.

Not really as you wouldnt have 2 green ministers now

Mick86

I didn't vote for them and now I never will.

The Greens have gone into coalition with the most shamelessly corrupt bunch of politicians in Irish history since Britain bought the Union. Trevor Sargent is an absolute hypocrite who deserved to be shafted by his colleagues in their quest for power. The only concession the Greens got from FF was direct election of the Lord Mayor of Dublin in 7 or 8 years time. I mean WOW, am I impressed or what. Muesli is obviously not brain food.

DarkJager

I never have and never will vote for the greens.

Their policies such as raising the price of petrol may help the environment, but at a massive cost to the ordinary taxpayer. Tree hugging policies are okay as long as the normal working citizen isn't getting ****ed over to fund them.

Mr Magnolia

I did, I'll wait and see what sort of influence they have and what's achieved before I decide next time.