Green Party

Steven Agnew elected as the new leader of Green Party in Northern Ireland

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on January 10, 2011, 11:01 am

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European/Westminster candidate Steven Agnew is the new leader of the Green Party in Northern Ireland, winning 72% of the votes in the postal ballot. In recent years the party had two co-chairs, one male and one female. In an extraordinary general meeting in the autumn, the party agreed to switch to mirror many of their affiliated European Green parties and elect a “clear and definable leader to act as both figurehead and primary spokesperson, particularly ahead of council and assembly …

Some answers from Steven Agnew

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on January 10, 2011, 11:00 am

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Ahead of this morning’s announcement, I posed some questions to the winning candidate. (1) What’s the Green Party’s vision for Northern Ireland? The Green Party wants to see all political decisions based on whether they are good for the economy, good for people and good for the environment. That should be the benchmark, but too often the economy is prioritised at the expense of the latter two. The economy must serve the people, not the other way around. We need …

Olli Rehn: ‘it is likely unfortunately to imply tax increases’

Pete Baker on November 22, 2010, 1:25 pm

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I’d wait for the detail, Brian, before declaring anything ‘safe’. RTÉ reports the latest comments from European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, Olli Rehn, on Ireland’s bail-out application. From the RTÉ report European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn has reiterated that Ireland would no longer be a low tax economy. When asked in an interview with RTÉ News if the corporate tax rate was now off the table for good, Mr Rehn said that by Ireland ceasing …

Cowen: “I believe the pursuit of the national interest and the common good must have priority”

Pete Baker on October 14, 2010, 9:26 pm

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With Sinn Féin proposing some more taxes and borrowing here, it’s worth looking at what’s been happening there. On Saturday 9th October RTÉ noted Taoiseach Brian Cowen’s intial lukewarm response to Green Party leader John Gormley’s call for an all-party consensus on a four-year budget plan. Taoiseach Brian Cowen has said he would welcome a political consensus on the budgetary measures needed to get the economic situation under control. However, he said it was up to the Opposition parties to put …

Are John Gormley and the Greens already paving their exit?

Mick Fealty on May 24, 2010, 11:41 am

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If the new 55% rule caused a bit of friction in Britain, there is another not entirely unrelated debate taking place in the Republic just now. The UK coalition ought to take a glance over there at how the Irish coalition government is likely to end. There are a growing bundle of by elections the Fianna Fail end of the government seems extraordinarily reluctant to call. As Noel Whelan accounts in his op ed column on Saturday, this is for …