"I believe that we have lost our way as a party and have gradually abandoned our values and our integrity since becoming part of this Government" says former Green Party Senator Deirdre De Burca in her final letter to John "Gormless" Gormley.
Ms De Burca, in her resignation letter, has shown the qualities which made her such an attractive (politically speaking) candidate for the Greens and showed why once upon a time the Green Party were a noble party.
Despite the vitriol and spite reigned on the Greens (from this blog and others) it seems that deep down inside the Green Party there is (or was) the heart and soul of what made the Greens such an honest and respectable party they once were.
The Greens were respected by the electorate as a honest, left leaning, and caring party of the environment who genuinely wanted to make this country a better place.
However this respect was soon worn away after just a few months of government with Fianna Fail and was evidenced by the absolutely soul-destroying local election results of June 2009 which saw the Green party completely abandoned by the electorate.
Ms De Burca is completely correct in stating the Greens had lost their way; that is obvious to all political commentators. With every passing week the line differentiating between the Greens and Fianna Fail is becoming harder and harder to see. According to Ms De Burca "in many respects [The Greens] have become no more than an extension of the Fianna Fáil party"
Ms De Burca went on to tell Mr Gormley "It is with regret also that I must also inform you that I have lost confidence in you as party leader" and in that, she joins the ranks of the wider electorate including many within the Green Party and its supporters.
Ms De Burca goes on to say what everyone else is thinking, namely that the Greens are "slowly haemhorraging support because of a growing public perception that we have lost the courage of our convictions and have become no more than an obedient 'add-on' to Fianna Fáil".
In her resignation letter De Burca showed the courage and principle which built the Green Party, however her letter is now a footnote to the demise of that same political force.
The only fault Political Quote has with Ms De Burca and her resignation is that it came too late for her and for her party but for one shining moment Ms De Burca showed, once again, the principles which made her and her party universally respected.
Just over a year ago three councillors quit amid claims of a growing split between the leadership and grassroots.
When Letterkenny town councillor Neil Clarke resigned in December 2008 he said he had become disillusioned with the party chiefs and felt he could not go before voters again as a Green.
Within weeks, Cork city councillor Chris O'Leary and Dublin representative Bronwen Maher left the party.
Mr O'Leary, who had been one of the most senior party figures in Munster, said he believed the Greens had followed a "stay in government at all costs" agenda.
Ms Maher accused the leadership of unethical conduct and criticised its failure to speak out at Budget cuts.
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