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Seanad elections cause Green controversy E-mail
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Wednesday, 11 July 2007
Green Party members, including Galway's Councillor Niall O Brolcháin, have spoken out against a party directive urging them to vote for Fianna Fáil candidates in the upcoming Seanad election.

At a party meeting last week Cllr O Brolcháin and several of his party colleagues protested at the idea of their Seanad ballot papers being scrutinised by party officials to make sure that they voted the right way. A public disagreement ensued, and the Green Party has now told members not to speak to the media about the issue to prevent any further damage to the party.

Cllr O Brolcháin told the Galway Independent that he is being asked by the Greens not to comment on the matter, after the heated row became public.

The directive, sent out as an email from a party official, mentioned that it was common practice in other parties to check ballot papers, in order to ensure that members vote for the right candidate. This caused a furore among members, including Cllr O Brolcháin. However, a spokesperson for Green Party has insisted that the issue was caused by a misinterpretation and that there was never any question of the party checking ballot papers.

Nonetheless, it has been confirmed that a deal will probably be done with Fianna Fáil in relation to the Seanad elections. Though neither the Green Party nor Fianna Fáil will confirm the details as yet, it's likely that the deal will involve two Green Party members receiving seats from the Taoiseach's eleven, in return for members voting a certain way. Whether Cllr O Brolcháin, as one of the Green Party's most visible elected representatives, will receive one of these seats is as yet unknown.


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