I’ve been out of the country for a couple of weeks so I haven’t had a time until now to update my blog re. going into Government with Fianna Fail.

I wasn’t overly enthusiastic about the Programme for Government myself, particularly in that we didn’t secure an awful lot in the area of public transport, but I did support the recommendation of the NEC to accept the deal.

The difficulty for the Green Party in the negotiations was the strength of Fianna Fail’s position, in that they were able to form a Government without us.

Our options were therefore to allow FF and PDs continue in Government as before, or do a deal with them that would at least allow us some influence over Government policy.  We choose the later option, which we may not have been universally popular, but which is undoubtedly the best option for the country as a whole.

The Programme for Government is also a better document than might appear at first glance, and it contains several important commitments that would not have been  included had the Green Party not agreed to support Bertie Ahern as Taoiseach.

All in all, I’m confident that the Green Party has made the right decision, and look forward to the next 5 years and to the many challenges we will face.