from top: Co-Leaders of Germany’s Green Party Robert Habeck and Annalena Baerbock; Dan Boyle

In these trying times social media offers some forms of amusement, as well as many sources of frustration.

A friend on Twitter daily posts stills from classic films he is watching to get him through COVID. He challenges others to identify the film.

I quickly identified The Third Man (1949) as one of the films. I just as quickly let myself down when I identified Berlin as its locale, rather than the more obvious Vienna. I was tired.

Another excuse I would have proffered would be that I have been thinking a lot about Berlin and Vienna in recent times. More particularly about the fortunes of the respective Green parties in the countries of those capital cities.

In Germany, Die Grünen have been the template for the development of green politics throughout the world. There have been peaks and deep troughs in its political development.

At the time of German reunification the party lost all of its Bundestag seats in West Germany. It was thought that the party was not sufficiently identifying with the national mood. Although it was proven right about the economic cost of Helmut Kohl’s Ostmark policy.

Its parliamentary presence was barely maintained through a once off quirk in the German electoral system. This saw its newly acquired East German allies Bündis 90 winning a handful seats. The irony here is that, even thirty years later, East Germany is the part of the country where Green support is weakest.

Eight years later The Greens would not only have a restored presence in the Bundestag, it would be a party of government for the first time. A minority partner to the Social Democrats. It seemed a good fit.

It wasn’t without difficulties. It did manage to get re-elected though. Since 2005 it has been all about Angela Merkel.

Where The Greens in Germany have successfully become embedded is in State (Länder) government. There are sixteen such state governments. In 2020 The Greens find themselves a government party in eleven of these.

It coalesces with every political party in the State, with the exception of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria, or the Alternative für Deutschland anywhere.

In one Länder, Baden-Württemberg, The Greens are the main party of government with the Christian Democrats the minority party.

Up until twelve months ago, The Greens seemed on course to become the most popular party in Germany. Since then Angela Merkel has had a significant COVID bounce. Her party, the Christian Democrats, has seen its support increase by over 50%.

Green support has slipped by 10% and is now on a par with that of the Social Democrats. With the impending German general election it seems it will be the choice of the Christian Democrats to decide which party with whom it should be in government.

Up until now the Austrian Greens have not been in government. In 2017 it contrived to almost put itself out of business. A bitter internal feud saw the party lose all its parliamentary seats.

By 2019 it had recovered and reentered parliament. Since January of this year it has been in government with the ÖVP the People’s Party, European allies of Fine Gael and Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats.

The Greens replace, as a junior partner in government, the notorious far right Freedom Party. Since the election Green Party support there has increased. Support for the Freedom Party has nosedived.

Irish politics has become Europeanised. Government formation also needs to be seen in the same context. The quality that is most needed is not so much compatability (although that remains important) but of fluidity.

Being able to respond to circumstances as they are, not as you would prefer they ought to be, is what should inform negotiations, even with those who are not preferred.

In the meantime I’ll try not to mix up Berlin and Vienna again.

Dan Boyle is a former Green Party TD and Senator and serves as a Green Party councillor on Cork City Council. His column appears here every Thursday. Follow Dan on Twitter: @sendboyle

Reuters

Behold: the VanDutch 40.2 – a monolithic 40 foot motor-yacht capable of 38 knots via twin Volvo D6 engines.

Below deck, there’s a spacious convertible lounge, galley and a bathroom with a standalone shower. Above, a large sunbathing area, bar and dual-screen Garmin control system at the raised helm.

Yours for around €690,000.

uncrate

This afternoon.

Leinster House, Dublin 2.

Fianna Fáil’s Eamon O’Cuiv (above left) and Sinn Féin’s David Cullinane TD (above centre) with unidentified gent (since identified – see comments).

Plotting or merely sharing a joke?

We may never know.

Sam Boal/Rollingnews

Larissa Tormey – Live Another Day

Larissa Tormey (top) is an Irish-Russian singer/songwriter, based in County Westmeath.

Conveyed in a video (above), created by Maxim Isakov, is Larissa’s response to a series of health scares that befell her and her family this year.

She says:

“This song was born in 10 minutes, as my little whispery chat to God and I am sure that many people will emotionally connect.”

Larissa is donating all the proceeds of this song to The Irish Music Industry’s COVID-19 Emerengency Relief Fund.

Nick says: Life-affirming.

Download here

Telly’s Normal People featuring Streedagh Strand, Tubbercurry, County Sligo; the area’s Fine Gael TD Frankie Feighan

Yesterday in the Dail.

The following Fine Gael TDs had this exchange:

Brendan Griffin: “Tourism Ireland has been very active online in promoting Ireland and imagery from Ireland. Very recently, that imagery included Sligo and some of the cinematography in “Normal People”, which was partly filmed there. They had to be selective with the cinematography as not everything is suitable for worldwide distribution from a tourism perspective. Sligo always looks fantastic on screen and Tourism Ireland has been working on that front so that when things start happening again, it will be able to get going as quickly as possible.”

Frankie Feighan: “With regard to “Normal People”, my father comes from Tubbercurry where much of it was filmed, and I like to think we are all normal people down there.”

YOU decide.

Previously: Porny People

Oireachtas.ie

Mary Lou McDonald addressing the Dáil this afternoon

This afternoon.

Leinster House, Dublin 2.

Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald asked Taoiseach Leo Varadkar if the State pandemic employment payments would be extended in June, following ‘ominous’ comments made yesterday by Minister For Finance Paschal Donohoe yesterday.

Ms McDonald said cutting or tapering off these would be “wrong” and said even the idea being floated suggests that Fine Gael is “out of touch” with the lives of workers and families and those bearing the burnt of this “economic shock”.

She also added that “in the last economic crisis”, FG and FF “chose to protect the banks and the wealthy”, “that you chose to punish ordinary workers and families instead” and “they lived with the minimum wage being slashed” and “numerous cuts to child benefit”.

She referred the moves to “slash and burn policies aimed to service a debt that did not belong to the people“.

During his response,, Mr Varadkar said the payments would need to continue until people can return to their jobs and, for the vast majority of people, returning to work won’t happen by June.

“So yes, it will need to be extended beyond mid-June,” he said.

He then went on to say:

“I am sorry though that Deputy McDonald chose to become some party political in her contributions because what you said was so two-faced and so fundamentally dishonest.

My party, Fine Gael, never cut the minimum wage. Working with Labour and then Independents, we increased it by 25%, one of the highest in the world.

What is the minimum wage in Northern Ireland where Sinn Fein is in power. In this jurisdiction, a Government led by my party, introduced a pandemic unemployment payment of €350 a week. So that people who lost their jobs had some financial security.

What happened in Northern Ireland where Sinn Fein is in office? A hundred pounds a week. Nothing for the self-employed until June. And Sinn Féin ministers on their Facebook site promote the fact that they hand out food parcels to the poor.

Reminiscent to me of Donald Trump handing out toilet roll after the hurricane hit the islands in the Caribbean.”

Later

Varadkar: “…you can’t hide the fact that she’s also leader of an All-Ireland party, a party that’s in power in Northern Ireland where the minimum wage is lower than here, where you don’t give people 350 pounds a week. You hand out food parcels and boast about it on Facebook. I’d be ashamed to do something like that.

“And don’t blame it on the Tories, and don’t blame it on London. If it wasn’t for their money, it would even be worse.”

Later

Ms McDonald said she was glad to hear the Taoiseach confirm that the payments would be extended beyond June. She then asked if he’d indicate how long they would be extended and if payment amount would remain the same.

She also said that grants of 10,000 or 25,000 pounds are being made available to businesses across all sectors in the North and added:

“What has been dedicated to those efforts in the six counties is far greater than the entire 250million which is pretty miserly that’s been set out here…”

She also said she’s proud of the community work that Sinn Féin activists do across Ireland.

During his response, Mr Varadkar said no decision has yet been made on the rate of pay or the timeline of the extended payments and indicated it may be something for the next Government to decide.

He added:

“I think it’s a great thing by the way that people do provide food banks and hand out food parcels. And this Government actually funds food banks and we’ve done that for a very long time. What we don’t do is post on Facebook pictures of our ministers visiting them and handing out food to the poor…”

Fight!

More to follow.

Earlier: Origin Story

UPDATE:

Broadsheet.ie