Patricia McKenna quits Greens to go independent

In a wide-ranging, exclusive interview by Jason O’Toole (published Thursday, May 7), the former Green Party MEP gives a hugely controversial and provocative critique of the Green Party’s performance since entering coalition with Fianna Fáil.

McKenna is particularly scathing about the Green representatives in Government, dismissing the Greens in the Dail as "nothing but hypocrites".

"I feel embarrassed about being a member of the Green Party," McKenna tells Hot Press, "because of what we said in the past and the promises we made, which we failed to deliver on. I just knew that I couldn’t run under a Green Party ticket and pretend that everything was alright because I’d be lying."

Asked about the likely response of her Green Party colleagues to her decision to quit the party, McKenna says, "Overall I would say they’ll be glad to get rid of me because I keep reminding them of the promises they have reneged on."

Asked by Hot Press if she believes the Greens have sold out, she answers unequivocally: "I do. There’s a huge number of issues that we campaigned on and were meant to have prioritised that have been pushed to one side. In the past, you could trust the Greens. We weren’t going to abandon our principles just for the sake of getting hold of some power. But that’s exactly what we’ve done.”

McKenna is highly critical of individual Ministers, accusing the Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan of abandoning key Green campaigns.

"Eamon (Ryan) was a prominent Shell to Sea campaigner and publicly critical of the Corrib Gas project before he went into government," she insists. "We had a message on our party website urging all members to support and join the Shell to Sea campaign. The Rossport Five were guests at our annual convention and we gave them a standing ovation and promised to fight their case. But we just abandoned them. I really don’t know how Eamon can live with himself after all his promises."

Asked if she is saying that Green party leader John Gormley has lost all credibility as a politician, McKenna answers: "I really hate saying it, but yes. He once strongly criticised Michael McDowell as being the Tammy Wynette of Irish politics! And then he turned around and he was the Tammy Wynette of the Green Party, standing by Bertie.

"John Gormley told us that he had succeeded in having the cuts and changes to the Equality Authority reversed," she claims. "But a question to the Minister in the Dail revealed that this is not the case at all. So either John was playing us for fools or Fianna Fail is playing him for a fool."

The full story – with lots more colourful revelations and opinions – is published in the new Hot Press, out tomorrow, Thursday May 7.