Fine Gael TD denies party are climate deniers

Vivienne Clarke

Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Patrick O’Donovan has attributed the success of the Fine Gael party in the local election to the “very a vibrant, energetic campaign under our new leader”.

Mr O’Donovan was speaking on RTÉ radio’s Today with Claire Byrne show in response to Green Party complaints about the behaviour of Fine Gael during the campaign, who had claimed that Green Party leader Eamon Ryan had behaved in a dictatorial and autocratic manner.

Every party had lost councillors and MEPs in last week’s elections, he said. While it may appear to be a “blood sport” to political commentators, the candidates who had lost their seats were now “wounded and very sore.”

People were entitled to have opinions, he said, “but I do think people need to be fair in that.” Each of the parties in the coalition had targets they wanted to achieve some of which could cause frustration for others. But those three parties had achieved 50 percent of the vote which was “a resounding endorsement of the work that's been done.”

Politics was about trying to be in government and making a decisive difference on behalf of the people who voted for you, he added.

“But in Ireland, because of proportional representation, that also involves compromise along the lines of respect within government. And that's what we have done over the last four years. And that's what we're going to continue to do for the remainder of the government.”

All the government parties were very conscious of the impact of climate change. “We’re not climate deniers.”