GREEN PARTY LEADER John Gormley has been whinging about life as a government minister, saying that being in government is akin to being in “an asylum”.

Speaking during the Dáil debate on the bailout deal secured with Europe and the IMF, Gormley said that the opposition would be placed in a “straitjacket” when they entered power:

When you are entering government you are entering an asylum, believe you me.

He issued a direct warning to Labour leader Eamon Gilmore, saying “You will have to endure the no-win situation. You will have to endure the non-stop criticism”. He included a grievance with Sinn Féin particularly, saying:

You will be sitting here and you will no doubt be looking up at the Sinn Féin deputies who will be criticising you non-stop and you will be saying, ‘I have no choice. I have to act in this way.’ And there is nothing worse in a democracy when you as a politician have to say those words. Where you say, ‘I have to act in this way because my choices are limited.’ And that is the reality, Deputy Gilmore. You will be faced with that lack of choice and even more besides.

The Irish Times reports that Gormley also addressed the accusation that his party had lacked the courage to stand up to their senior partners in government, saying “It takes courage to stay in, to put through the toughest budget that this country has ever seen. I don’t relish it . . . I think it is the right thing to do.”

Gormely’s colleague Ciarán Cuffe evidently agrees; this morning he tweeted a photo entitled “Exterior View of the Asylum this morning”…

[Image via Ciarán Cuffe]