Real work starts now after Government deal is done

World of Politics with Harry McGee – harrymcgee@gmail.com

Programmes for Governments are ultimately only words on a page – albeit many, many words. The one produced by Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Greens runs to over 170 pages of closely-spaced text – that’s the size of many airport novels.

It’s not fiction, though it’s not fact yet either; just hundreds and hundreds of aspirations – some big, some small, some befuddling.

If they all were to happen, it would have a transformative impact on society. If even half of it is achieved it will be a game-changer.

But that said, some measures are as real as a winning lottery ticket; there’s a chance it might happen. But we know what that chance is.

That said, there is no doubt that the programme has a strong green hue to it. As Green Party deputy leader Catherine Martin said in her statement endorsing it on Monday night, it is not about the programme, but getting it implemented.

And nobody is under any illusion that it’s going to be tough.

Many of the measures are long-term and that just doesn’t suit short-term government. Getting carbon emissions down by seven per cent will really only begin to be seen – if it happens – towards the end of the decade.

Even though a massive €360 million a year has been earmarked for walking and cycling infrastructure, we are not going to see new pathways and cycle ways appear like mushrooms overnight.

The reality is the fruits of many of those policies will only be seen after this Government has ended. And given the absolute horror it faces, its chances of re-election look slim already.

That said, by any yardstick, the programme is a good one for the Greens. Many of the 17 demands they sent in April to Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have been delivered – even if the language around a lot of them is a little bit woolly and aspirational.

However, the complexion of the party has changed. Some of its membership no longer accept the narrow environmental message but say that social justice and climate justice are intertwined.

In other words, they place the party very firmly to the left – even if they are still a minority within the party.

There have been dissenting voices in both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil – but the expectation has always been that their membership will follow the views of the leadership on the matter.