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Catherine Martin Mark Stedman/Photocall Ireland

'It was 1am and we'd been discussing development plans': Meet the Green who doesn't care about populism

Green Party deputy leader Catherine Martin on being a ‘New Green’, women in politics and keeping it in the family.

IT AIN’T EASY being Green, but there’s a small collection of councillors, local representatives, volunteers and one former cabinet minister who are slowly but surely rebuilding the Green Party from the ruins of 2011.

Catherine Martin likes to describe herself as being among the ‘new Greens’ having been elected to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council last year. So too was her husband, South Dublin county councillor Francis Noel Duffy, who’s also, unsurprisingly, a Green Party member.

Stating the obvious, Martin told TheJournal.ie this week: “It’s quite a green house! It’s quite busy. People actually wonder how we do it.

But we have our own system and there’s always one of us with the children… Maybe it’s good that we’re on two different councils, but I think one of us would have been very bored had we not got elected.

It’s little surprise that the discussion around the dinner table or in the living room focuses quite a lot on what they’re working on as councillors. She spoke of one recent exciting Friday night:

We put the children to bed, sat down, took the two laptops out and suddenly it was nearly 1 o’clock in the morning and we’d been discussing developments plans, but we loved it. Then I said to Francis: ‘How did this happen?’ But we’re happy.

A teacher of Music and English in Dundrum for the past 16 years, Martin and Duffy both grew up in Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan but met properly when they joined the Greens in 2007 amid concerns about the rezoning of land in their home county.

Martin is the party’s education spokesperson as well as it’s deputy leader. She admits that it’s not sexy to be in the Green Party, saying it was the only one before the economic collapse to speak out against “casino economics”.

“What I don’t like is populist politics. I think there’s a danger that some of the other smaller parties are populist and you can’t have that. You can’t be against everything without presenting an alternative,” she explained.

Green Party Meetings Mark Stedman / Photocall Ireland Mark Stedman / Photocall Ireland / Photocall Ireland

She believes there is a space for the Green Party in Irish politics and shares Eamon Ryan’s view that the party can realistically get a team of TDs into the next Dáil. But Martin admits she would prefer if it stayed in opposition rather than go into government.

She is contesting the ‘constituency of death’, Dublin Rathdown, which has gone from five to three seats and includes prominent names like Shane Ross, Alan Shatter and Alex White.

“I think I’ve a fighting chance of the last seat,” she said, adding that the two-and-a-half years she spent canvassing prior to last year’s local election had taught her a lot.

I saw a change over the two-and-a-half years, it was very interesting. Voters had been promised a democratic revolution and it didn’t present itself.

As one of the few female politicians in a leadership role in Irish politics, Martin is quite obviously passionate about getting more women involved in politics. But she admits it can be difficult to convince them.

She explained:

With women you have to ask and ask again. I find with men if you ask them would they do an interview, they’d say: ‘Yeah, do you have two for me?’ Whereas a woman will go: ‘Ah, really? When is that interview?’ They have to be asked and asked again.

Green Party Meetings Mark Stedman / Photocall Ireland Mark Stedman / Photocall Ireland / Photocall Ireland

Why? Martin believes it’s about confidence and the fact the Dáil can be “a little bit feisty” and not all that attractive a place for “young new people to come into”.

“It’s like a national theatre rather than our treasured parliament,” she said.

Everyone in the Green Party would readily admit it has little or no money, having lost all its State funding after 2011, but Martin claims this hasn’t been a bad thing.

“We lost our money but, ironically, we’ve became more united. I’d say we’re more united than any other party. At selection conventions we’re all behind each other, we’re all encouraging each other. Candidates are feeding off each other,” she added.

The Green Party annual conference takes place in Kilkenny tonight and all-day tomorrow. 

More details here and the conference brochure and agenda is here

Meet the Young Greens: ‘I’m tired of middle-aged men pissing away my future all the time’

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45 Comments
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    Mute Norman Hunter
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    Mar 27th 2015, 8:05 PM

    The Greens answer to every problem, tax it or ban it.

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    Mute RonanM
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    Mar 27th 2015, 8:13 PM

    All the left are fans of taxing everything!

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    Mute Kerry Blake
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    Mar 27th 2015, 8:19 PM

    or support FF in government….

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    Mute Plantation Watch
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    Mar 27th 2015, 8:24 PM

    Lets not forget they propped up FF, helped us with the Guarantee, NAMA and were more concerned with passing carbon taxes then examining why the country falling apart from the complete lack of competent governance.

    Keep these FFailures out of power.

    133
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    Mute David Fitzpatrick
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    Mar 27th 2015, 9:39 PM

    Jeez 1am.
    Where will we send the medals?
    Try running an SME and you’ll really find out how to burn the midnight oil.

    45
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    Mute Gaeltán
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    Mar 27th 2015, 10:50 PM

    Ba mhaith liom cáin a chuir ar dhiúltachas agus ciniciúlacht. Bheadh na billiúin ag teacht isteach m’anam!

    8
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    Mute Eoin Madden
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    Mar 28th 2015, 7:51 AM

    In the last Dáil, 4 of the 6 Green Party TDs were small business owners.

    14
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    Mute Marcus Briody
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    Mar 28th 2015, 9:51 AM

    i am in the middle of reading Naomi Klein’s book “This Changes Everything, the Climate Vs Capitalism”. I would recommend every negative commentator and those who liked their comments to read it and get some perspective. the last time we had this much carbon in our atmosphere our sea levels were 20m higher than they are now, a lump of ice is irreversibly breaking off the antarctic the size of France that will raise our sea levels by 3 to 5metres. The Greens are the only party looking to the long term.

    They did not cause the economic crisis but had to deal with it and as has been seen by what is now happening to the Greeks no left wing gov would have done anything different, even if there had not been a bank guarantee and we had somehow saved the banking system we still had a 24 billion a year budget deficit thanks to the neo liberal free market policies of the FF/PD gov.

    The Greens did more for the environment than any party in the history of this state. car emissions dropped by 25% thanks to the new taxing of cars for carbon, the carbon tax that you are all giving out about was used for the insulation grants they set up created hundreds if not thousands of jobs and will save billions in heating bills, the FG/Labour gov cut back these grants but still took in the carbon tax money. the insulation and necessity for a renewable source of energy in every house will save anyone who has bought or built a house since 2008 hundreds in their heating bills but most people who are benefiting from this don’t realize that they have the greens to thank for this. this is what differentiates the greens from everyone else their policies are not for their core vote as is often the case with left/right wing parties, their policies are for the good of everyone and future generations.

    If they had not had to deal with the greatest economic crisis this country has ever had the policies that they brought in on a number of issues would be seen as very progressive but hey i might as well be talking to the wall with many of you. what annoys me most is that some of the angriest people either voted for FF during the boom years or worse still did not vote at all and did not and may still not get involved in politics just sit on your computers being cynical, cynicism is easy getting up and taking a stand is far more difficult. the greens would have gone in with a left wing party in 2007 if they had 78 seats like FF did and they may well do that in the future. my preference would be a green/left coalition that serves the planet and the poor but there will never be a utopian 4 day working week where everyone has homes and the rich pay their fair share of taxes like in the Nordic countries if the planet is dying.

    The Greens were in power in Germany for 2 terms when we had the right wing FF/PD. The Germans became world leaders in renewable energy and created tens of thousands of jobs and also a huge amount of locally owned renewable energy systems. Green policies make for better long term economics, supporting organic food production means that we can be less reliant on fossil fuel chemical imports and opens us to quality food sector. FG minister for agric is for genetically modified food, something the greens did ban in our soil, a ban that i for one was very happy they brought in and which was revoked by this gov.

    nothing that we count as important now will be looked upon as important for future generations they will only wonder why was not enough done to prevent the climate and resource catastrophe that we know is happening. my impression of the future and its being backed up by the moronic comments on this thread is that future generations will have to live on boats because all available land above water will be required to grow our food, this should put things in perspective but planning for the future has never been a good trait for Irish people or the human race in general

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    Mute Joe McGovern
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    Mar 28th 2015, 10:00 AM

    Bit rude to join in a conversation using another language

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    Mute Luke D
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    Mar 28th 2015, 10:39 AM

    That’s gaeilgeoirs for you.

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    Mute stephen kavanagh
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    Mar 27th 2015, 8:09 PM

    She seems like a genuine person and there’s a place for Green ideals, but at present they just seem like a lofty D4 enclave that thrives during the good times but has no answers in a recession, and they have to work to change that image

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    Mute Paul Roche
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    Mar 27th 2015, 9:07 PM

    Michael Lowry, Charles Haughey, Ray Burke and Enda Kenny all seemed like genuine people as well.
    Because they wish to wait in the wings and “ignore populism” is no reason to give them any support as a political party. These people deserve to lose their deposits.

    69
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    Mute stephen kavanagh
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    Mar 27th 2015, 9:17 PM

    We love a good scapegoat in this country!

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    Mute silentbob2012
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    Mar 27th 2015, 9:56 PM

    The Green Party…First Class sandal wearing, impractical and nonsensical Hippies who helped bring the nation to the brink. Never again.

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    Mute Tom
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    Mar 27th 2015, 9:57 PM

    A bit unfair on D 4. Most folks there do have sense.

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    Mute Suzanne McEneaney
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    Mar 27th 2015, 10:58 PM

    Tell that to the people up and down the country who have had rural bus routes cut, green issues are everyone’s issues. The mega rich and the D4 brigade have little motivation to do anything about changing the status quo, they fund their pet politicians, the Greens don’t take corporate donations – that should be the norm if we want actual democracy. The Greens are really the least lofty, the only ones actually listening to the science and saying, come on, we can do this.

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    Mute Suzanne McEneaney
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    Mar 27th 2015, 11:03 PM

    That is simply untrue. My car, a small, old opel corsa had a much reduced car tax bill under John Gormley. Hogan changed the system to one of emmissions, not engine size. It is not the Green Party’s fault that car manufacturers are only now improving the efficiency and emmissions of their vehicles so that newer cars are more green – that is the fault of the politicians who put their heads in the sand for so long. Global warming and climate change aren’t a fairy tale, you can’t blame the people who are trying to do something about it.

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    Mute Greg
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    Mar 28th 2015, 6:45 AM

    Question ? Do you honestly think a small country like Ireland is adding to the global warming ? We are one of the small nations in the world , I am all for saving the planet , but please don’t try and tell us our small country is causing global warming , Green Party politics has hit the common person living out side major cities more than any one , carbon taxes are not fixing roads , improving public transport , as we all know it’s been used to set up Irish water and we all know the greens supported this new utility service .spare me the bull !

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    Mute Kane Abel
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    Mar 28th 2015, 11:24 AM

    The Green Party – Don’t ever forgive, don’t ever forget……. :(

    6
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    Mute D is Illusioned
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    Mar 27th 2015, 8:07 PM

    Green Party never again, proved themselves to be just another power hungry party when they got into bed with Fianna Fail.

    139
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    Mute John Kelly
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    Mar 27th 2015, 8:07 PM

    The only Green I will be cheering on are the boys in Green.
    #Aviva Sunday.

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    Mute Scipio
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    Mar 27th 2015, 8:27 PM

    The Green Party consists of people who who want the hoi polloi to take their holidays in Tramore, to save the planet while they swan off to enviromental conferences in Rio and Cape Town.

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    Mute Al Ca
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    Mar 27th 2015, 8:40 PM

    That’s it in a nutshell(seasonal of course):P

    44
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    Mute Niall Power
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    Mar 27th 2015, 9:30 PM

    I live in Tramore it’s a beautiful place we don’t want the Hoi Polli or the Greens,
    Thank you very much!

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    Mute peter kelly
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    Mar 28th 2015, 10:24 AM

    What’s wrong with Tramore Scipio? A fine place to live and holiday.

    1
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    Mute Deco James Connolly
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    Mar 27th 2015, 9:02 PM

    Lettuce munching Fu.kwits took our country to the brink with FF , forced our kids to take the boat and now they want another crack at it, I would sooner vote in Robert Mugabe he’s less toxic .

    73
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    Mute dj dangermouse
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    Mar 27th 2015, 8:10 PM

    What’s the green party?

    70
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    Mute Jimmy Jim-Jim
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    Mar 27th 2015, 8:46 PM

    Legend has it that many years ago the country was awash with money. King Bertie couldn’t rule the land by himself so he made a deal with the Green Party and a magical group of Independents, which even contained a Healey-Rae. But all was not well. The gold disappeared, King Bertie had to explain where he happened to find a crown, and the Greens, oblivious to this carried on trying to save the world by destroying the country until one day they vanished and were never seen again. Some say if you stay quiet and listen you can still hear them calling for new taxes once there is a bit of money around.

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    Mute dj dangermouse
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    Mar 27th 2015, 9:32 PM

    Oh ya those clowns,everytime I pay my car tax I have tears rolling down my eyes because of the price it’s gone up since the greens came along.My tears probably hit the ground and fed into a pipeline that feeds straight to irish waters water coolers.

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    Mute molly coddled
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    Mar 28th 2015, 1:27 AM

    Absolutely perfect Jimmy Jim-Jim, and true too.
    :S

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    Mute Niall Mullane
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    Mar 27th 2015, 8:38 PM

    One thing they did do was create a lot of employment with the warmer home schemes. Still going too. I bet a lot of ye got insulation & heating upgrades for relatively cheap and reaping the benefits of cheaper heating bills. Oh also the bike to work scheme created a lot of jobs while keeping the nation fit with cheap bikes.

    60
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    Mute Sam Bartell
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    Mar 27th 2015, 8:46 PM

    Eh no cos the schemes criteria is extremely limited and cycling to work is just not practical in most areas outside of the cities

    59
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    Mute Fozz
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    Mar 27th 2015, 8:50 PM

    Fortunately most people live in the cities then.

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    Mute Niall Mullane
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    Mar 27th 2015, 8:57 PM

    Sam the criteria changed over the years yes it’s very strict now but it did create thousands of jobs. Without them there would be a lot more unemployment. The bike scheme is not only for people cycling to work a lot of people got into cycling or upgraded their bikes on the strength of it. Huge benefits from that getting the nation fit.

    32
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    Mute Tom
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    Mar 27th 2015, 9:47 PM

    The only bad side of living in South Dublin is the yummy mummy mindset of these eejits. It’s the price I have to pay.

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    Mute trickytrixster
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    Mar 27th 2015, 9:00 PM

    I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again I’ve said it before

    37
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    Mute Sheik Yahbouti
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    Mar 27th 2015, 11:17 PM

    Nobody cares, Catherine, nobody cares. Your party had its shot.

    26
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    Mute Tom
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    Mar 27th 2015, 9:53 PM

    The Greens are anti – flouride and anti vaccine. Such unscientific horse manure makes me depressed.

    26
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    Mute Ossian Smyth
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    Mar 27th 2015, 11:24 PM

    Neither of these statements are correct. The Green Party is an environmental party that relies on environmental sciences to inform evidence based policies.

    The Greens are very clearly pro-vaccination and for example supported the introduction of the cervical cancer vaccine in 2010. The policy on fluoridation is as follows:
    “The Green Party acknowledges the continuing concerns of many people regarding health risks associated with fluoridation of water. The Party also acknowledges a substantial body of evidence that fluoridation of water can reduce the incidence of tooth decay. The Green Party supports targeted public programmes to improve education and practice related to oral hygiene and improve access to dental care.”

    23
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    Mute Eoin Madden
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    Mar 28th 2015, 7:53 AM

    That’s just not true.

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    Mute Feargal A Hickey
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    Mar 28th 2015, 12:02 AM

    Where were the Green Party on the night their partners in government bailed out their friends in Anglo?

    21
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    Mute K.J. Lane
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    Mar 28th 2015, 7:38 AM

    The journal’s comment section outdoes itself again. Attacking a principled person who put themselves up for public office to try to make a positive change. Well done armchair warriors.

    21
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    Mute Dan Boyle
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    Mar 27th 2015, 10:51 PM

    Why does Jeremy Clarkson have so many aliases on Journal.ie

    21
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    Mute Tim Kearney
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    Mar 28th 2015, 4:46 AM

    The Green party are gone to Narnia ! Where the wicked witch froze them in time… climate change will help them return and they will ruin the country again. .. .. that poor girl is loosing the plot..we don’t forget what the greens done to our Nation…

    14
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    Mute Greg
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    Mar 27th 2015, 8:32 PM

    Please people don’t vote Green Party or FG back in , time to go with independents I think , no sinners no FF . New Ireland new people in power

    1
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