Brendan McCann resigns as Green Party Representative

merlante

He is no longer running for the local elections, according to the Waterford Today, allegedly because he doesn't agree with his party in the way they are currently conducting themselves in government. He thinks the Greens would be better off out of government.

They've put forward a new candidate whose name I don't recall.

Did he go or was he pushed? What impact will this have on his Bord Planala objection campaign? (Not that there's much to object to at the moment.)

Bards

who knows, but it does sound as though he was pushed by not being on the Green Ticket, I wonder will he will run as an independent?

robtri

I would say his objections will continue, can't see that changing, maybe he will go for an independant seat..

jmcc

robtri wrote: »

I would say his objections will continue, can't see that changing, maybe he will go for an independant seat..

If he could not get the necessary votes for a seat with the Green Party behind him, his chances of gaining an independent seat would not be good. I think that there was a possibility of a natural Green seat in this ward but McCann's obsession with planning objections, whether warranted or not, destroyed that possibility by allowing him to be portrayed as being anti-everything. It was just student level politics. It should be interesting to see how things move from here.

Regards...jmcc

mike65

Well if anything he'll be more determined to screw the City up.

Sully

How will anything change? He isnt the only member of the Greens with similar views to him, but I find it odd only a few weeks ago he was calling for everyone to work together. Never really heard much from him in terms of the Greens in government (or in general).

He is still the same person, just no longer a member of the Greens. So the only thing that will change is that he no longer supports the party. There are plenty of candidates at that (though mainly because they were not selected at the party convention). As for running as an Independent, I think him trying to put the city first (in terms of the objections) will damage any chance of ever getting elected.

Quigs Snr

If I were the green leadership I would be looking at the McCann situation and feeling that the man had single handedly destroyed any credibility the party may have had for a very long time. He has turned an entire generation against himself and the party.

Smart move by the greens if they have given him the heave-ho. They only way you'll ever catch me voting for them though is if they grow a pair and stick it to Cowen and his clowns instead of rolling over.

jmcc

Waterford Today has the article up online:

http://www.waterford-today.ie/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5873&Itemid=1&ed=593

Regards...jmcc

merlante

jmcc wrote: »

I think that there was a possibility of a natural Green seat in this ward but McCann's obsession with planning objections, whether warranted or not, destroyed that possibility by allowing him to be portrayed as being anti-everything. It was just student level politics. It should be interesting to see how things move from here.

Very true. I think the new candidate would want to make some pretty strong statements distancing herself from McCann in order to have any credibility at all, and try to reverse the current antipathy towards the green party. Quite apart from what they are doing on a national level, you have to believe that a few *sane* greens in the council couldn't but be a good thing. With FF and FG collecting such a low proportion of council seats the last time out, and with no silver lining in sight for FF, there has never been a better time to get candidates from the smaller parties elected. Unfortunately, only the socialists and the republicans are benefitting.

merlante

jmcc wrote: »

Waterford Today has the article up online:

http://www.waterford-today.ie/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5873&Itemid=1&ed=593

Two new candidates, interesting! One in City North as well. Might find out what he's about and keep him in mind for the 'oul feckin' vote.

durrus

As an individual, Brendan is a lovely guy but his position and profile on planning issues in Waterford has made him toxic from an 'electability' point of view. Even people who support his views would be tending to keep quiet about it as nobody wants to be associated with the vitriolic sentiment that surrounds Brendan.

The pity is that he was/is correct on many issues but the onslought of objections has actually worked against him as it has led people to believe he objects to everything.

Personally, I wish him well.

jmcc

merlante wrote: »

Very true. I think the new candidate would want to make some pretty strong statements distancing herself from McCann

The simplest and most effective one is that "she is not McCann". The Green Party would also have to focus on the new candidates and completely sideline McCann to ensure that he is not a problem. That's more realpolitik than Green politics though. The problem with the McCann as a candiate was that he was always seen as being strictly on a student politics level. The planning objections, in terms of public perception, completely overwhelmed everything else including the core Green Party issues and allowed others to portray him as a problem for Waterford. That was absolutely toxic as this city tends to have a far stronger identity than any other in Ireland. The other parties and candidates were far more serious about politics.

Quite apart from what they are doing on a national level, you have to believe that a few *sane* greens in the council couldn't but be a good thing.

FF was almost eliminated the last time out. However some former FFers are running as independents now.

With FF and FG collecting such a low proportion of council seats the last time out, and with no silver lining in sight for FF, there has never been a better time to get candidates from the smaller parties elected. Unfortunately, only the socialists and the republicans are benefitting.

FF might be hoping for some kind of recovery but the recession has overtaken that plan. I don't know if there is any major demographic shift that will benefit FF/FG but the Locals may result in a strange mix of winners not unlike the early 1980s. This polarisation of the electorate might result in protest votes. That's the worst possible outcome for the larger parties like FF/FG/Labour.

Regards...jmcc

merlante

durrus wrote: »

As an individual, Brendan is a lovely guy but his position and profile on planning issues in Waterford has made him toxic from an 'electability' point of view. Even people who support his views would be tending to keep quiet about it as nobody wants to be associated with the vitriolic sentiment that surrounds Brendan.

The pity is that he was/is correct on many issues but the onslought of objections has actually worked against him as it has led people to believe he objects to everything.

Personally, I wish him well.

Not to get into the good versus bad of Brendan -- because that would turn this thread into a vampiric feeding frenzy -- but it's the indiscriminate nature of his objections that raise people's ire. I mean if you object to all, say, 10 large developments in a city, and 3 of those objections are upheld by Bord Planala, you could say you're defacto 'right' 30% of the time (and wrong 70% of the time). But the greater agenda was to shoot down almost all developments of any kind of size, or related to alcohol consumption, or gaudy signage, or..., and that's 100% wrong.

If you shoot everyone, many of the people will have deserved it.

(And statistically, he objected to almost everything. That's an objective assessment.)

merlante

jmcc wrote: »

The simplest and most effective one is that "she is not McCann". The Green Party would also have to focus on the new candidates and completely sideline McCann to ensure that he is not a problem. That's more realpolitik than Green politics though. The problem with the McCann as a candiate was that he was always seen as being strictly on a student politics level. The other parties and candidates were far more serious about politics.

The question for me is, are these candidates those who were waiting with baited breadth for McCann to go away (i.e. the ones that held a vote of no confidence in him about 3 years back, which was subsequently brushed under the rug) or are they long time friends and admirers of his who are reluctantly taking up the mantle because he has seen fit to step down?

The difference is massive, and I'd have to see them put some distance between themselves and McCann before I would even consider giving either of them a vote.

Quite apart from the fact that I feel McCann is a blight on the city, his relationship with the core party has been more or less non-existent, meaning that he is not even a good green party representative from a national standpoint either.

jmcc

merlante wrote: »

The question for me is, are these candidates those who were waiting with baited breadth for McCann to go away (i.e. the ones that held a vote of no confidence in him about 3 years back, which was subsequently brushed under the rug) or are they long time friends and admirers of his who are reluctantly taking up the mantle because he has seen fit to step down?

A very good point. Perhaps some Green Party people can illuminate the situation.

Quite apart from the fact that I feel McCann is a blight on the city, his relationship with the core party has been more or less non-existent, meaning that he is not even a good green party representative from a national standpoint either.

It might be that the Green Party, having been in government, is finally learning about politics. This process seems to occur in the evolution of all political parties and there is conflict between the ideologically driven true believers and the more rational political types. It would be interesting to find out on which side the new candidates stand.

Regards...jmcc

Bluezar

In the Words of the man himself....
"I Object":D:D:D

KingLoser

This isn't a good thing...

All this means is that public opinion means diddly-sh*te to him now.

Nolanger

They're supposed to be changing their name to The Yellow Party.

ToxicPaddy

Its true that he did serious damage to the Green Party's image with his serial objections and basically rubbing people up the wrong way and it will take some time for them to recover from this. If they put a strong candidate out there, they should get votes and probably increase their percentage..

As for the question "If this will mean the end of Brendan McCanns objections" well at the moment there isnt much to object too but I cant see it happening.

Why the man didn't chose his objections more carefully I dont know..

If he had, then at least he would have come across as having a genuine interest in the well being of the city rather being seen as a serial objector with his blanket objections to every development which came across as nothing more than his willingness to hold back the potential growth of the city.

As a result jobs and income to the town from those who would have invested and spent here have suffered and are now even more apparent than ever with the recession in full swing and financial troubles the likes of Waterford Crystal are in..

So only the man himself knows what his next step is going to be..

Tox

BadCharlie

You will find the next person to take up the Green spot in Waterford will do the Objections that Brendan did. I think its more party policy then Brendan on a campaign to Object to everything.