Sir, - Roger Garland's letter (October 28th) concerning the Greens in government paints a rather bleak picture of politics. He implies that the only reason for the Greens to exist is to be an anti-party, whatever that means. For myself, I joined the Greens to create a clean environment and to implement Green policies wherever I was given a mandate to do so. In Ireland the days have long gone when Greens were derided on local authorities for demanding very reasonable changes in the way we treat the environment. We have created an environmental agenda in Ireland dealing with waste, pollution and food safety, which the Government has had to match.
The fact that there is now an undertaking to close down nuclear plants in Germany and France due to the fact that Greens have gone into government is exactly what many of us joined the Green Party to achieve. To sit on the sidelines and to refuse to participate in a government which would implement green policies such as the closure of nuclear power stations would be an abnegation of responsibility. People put us into positions of power as Greens so that we can achieve concrete results, not whinge from the sidelines.
In this context Jim Fitzsimons's letter on the Sellafield expansion (October 30th) only highlights the refusal of this Government to make this a priority despite all its bluster. Until the Taoiseach deals with it at the highest level, Sellafield will continue to be a threat. If the Greens were to go into government in Ireland they would be demanding action, not words. - Yours, etc., Nuala Ahern, MEP,
Greystones, Co Wicklow.