BY JEROME HUGHES
MOUNTING speculation regarding a pre-Christmas general election has been dismissed by Independent Donegal TD Thomas Pringle who instead believes people will go to the polls in February.
Talk of a general election ramped up this week after Eamon Ryan announced on Tuesday that he was stepping down as leader of the Green Party and will not contest the next election.
“You’d be forgiven for thinking it might edge us closer to a general election but I really don’t think it will. Whoever the new Green Party leader is, they’ll want to have time to try and make an impact,” according to Deputy Pringle (pictured).
“In reality, there’s only months left of the government anyway. They’ll probably not have by-elections to fill the seats created by the EU election, and instead hold a general election in February,” added the Donegal TD.
The Greens are currently the smallest party in the coalition. The movement has traditionally failed to make political gains in Donegal, which doesn’t surprise Deputy Pringle.
“Basically, the Greens have been taking all the anger from the public and it suits Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil to allow that to happen.
“The Greens have been happy to go with that so whatever they get they deserve at this stage. They propped up the main parties so they’ll be annihilated in the next election no matter what they do,” claims the Killybegs-based TD.
“The Greens perused their agenda and let everything else go, like housing.
“Eamon Ryan was a weak leader and they shouldn’t have gone into government in the first place,” added Deputy Pringle.
“I want an election sooner rather than later because we need to get rid of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Ultimately, we need a change of direction.
“The new government will have to realise that housing is the main issue right across the country.
“The provision of adequate healthcare is another big one but everything rolls on from housing,” concluded the Independent Donegal TD.
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