Greens up to dirty tricks

PH01

What are the Greens up to? Pretending you're 'Socialist Worker' journalist to gain access to an EU summit. Dirty tricks - tut, tut, tut.

From - http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/front/2003/0702/171750009HM1MCKENNA.html

Green MEP visited EU summit as 'journalist' for rival party's paper
Arthur Beesley, Political Reporter



Ms Patricia McKenna, a Green MEP, attended the recent EU summit in Greece as a "journalist" with the Socialist Worker newspaper, which is published by the Socialist Workers Party.

Ms McKenna said last night that she had used the accreditation to gain access to the summit because MEPs are not allowed to attend such meetings.

Earlier, the Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Ms McKenna's name and accreditation for the summit with the Socialist Worker was on a list provided to the Irish embassy in Greece.

Ms McKenna said she approached the Socialist Worker with a view to writing an article for it about the summit, which took place almost a fortnight ago. However, she had not yet submitted an article and believed that the paper might conduct an interview with her instead.

Ms McKenna said "not really" when asked if there could have been any conflict of interest in a full-time elected representative of the Green Party attending such a summit as a journalist for a paper published by a rival political party. She said she wanted to attend the summit to inform herself about the development of a common EU foreign policy. She chose to approach the Socialist Worker because the Greens had no newspaper.

Ms McKenna said she never sought formal permission from her party to attend the Greek summit in this way.

However, she said she had mentioned it in a casual way to some party colleagues. "There was no permission sought, or given, or denied," she said. "For me, there was never anything in it that I needed permission for."

The leader of the Greens, Mr Trevor Sargent, did not respond last night to questions from The Irish Times about Ms McKenna's attendance at the summit.

However, the party's foreign affairs spokesman, Mr John Gormley, said he had no personal difficulty with Ms McKenna's means of attending the summit. "I don't think there'd be much of a problem actually. It was probably the only way of getting into the summit." While he accepted the Greens had "major differences of opinion" with the Socialist Workers Party on some policies, Mr Gormley said the party was not a "total rival" to the Greens and noted their joint opposition to the war in Iraq.

The Socialist Workers Party is a revolutionary socialist party. Its website promotes a form of socialism which it says must come from the self-emancipation of workers.

Ms McKenna said she had no plans to join the party. She said she had attended the EU summit in Seville last year as a journalist accredited to a Danish newspaper whose editorial stance was critical of the EU.

ReefBreak

Newsflash!

The Irish Green Party have changed their name to The Watermelon Party. Green on the outside, Red on the inside.

solice

ha ha, and they have the little black bits all over, you know the ones that noone likes

Turnip

Originally posted by ReefBreak
Newsflash!

The Irish Green Party have changed their name to The Watermelon Party. Green on the outside, Red on the inside.

Rofl! :ninja:

With their hypocrisy (Cuffe), knee jerk anti-americanism and this kind of dodgyness, the greens are throwing away the little bit of credibility they might have had.

ReefBreak

The fact that she "pretended" to be a journalist doesn't really bother me too much. I "pretend" to be student whenever I'm buying tickets for All-Ireland hurling matches (saves me a tenner a ticket).

It's the fact that she pretended to be a journalist for the Tortskyite Socialist Worker newspaper that will really embarrass the party.

Rolo Tomasi

What strikes me is that when asked about a conflict of interest she replies "not really". haha, I look forward to the official party's response to this.

Also she posed as a journalist to attend the summit because mep's were not allowed to attend. An mep with a press pass is still an mep. Could this lead to censure from the EU? This would be a very embarrassing situation as Patricia McKenna is one of the figure heads of the party.

Sand

Well apart from the people involved , McKenna, The Green Party and their 70s buddies - youve got to applaud the conquest over bureacracy and petty rules. It is a bit sad when a reporter to a newspaper can get better access to the decision making than an elected representitive.

Chaos-Engine

Originally posted by Sand
Well apart from the people involved , McKenna, The Green Party and their 70s buddies - youve got to applaud the conquest over bureacracy and petty rules. It is a bit sad when a reporter to a newspaper can get better access to the decision making than an elected representitive.

I think that above all else this is the important fact.
It doesn't concern me that she aligned herself with SWP scum. She didn't. She just wanted to gain access and to do so she had to be a media person... Sad that many many unelected peeps get in and no even a representiative of the Irish people in Europe.

After the 2 years of teh EU convention it seems that the people of europe have been forgotten time and time again
*tear*

Hairy Homer

Posing as a journalist, eh?

Wonder if she has a special journalist's visa to get into the US. If the immigration officials at that part of Dublin airport that is forever the USA get to hear about this, she may not be allowed in to that country unless she has an I-visa.

Which is only given out, in the case of Ireland, to members of the NUJ.

Which criterion I believe she does not satisfy.

Could be fun!!