Green gaffe fuels car sales storm
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Tuesday June 30 2009
A BLISTERING public row between the Green Party and 'Apprentice' frontman Bill Cullen over the collapsing motor industry deepened last night.
Green Party chairman Dan Boyle accused the tycoon of embarking on a personal and political crusade against his party after the finance spokesman was left red-faced after an embarrassing gaffe live on air.
Mr Boyle was forced to apologise to Mr Cullen on radio after he got his facts wrong during a debate on the 'Today' with the Pat Kenny radio programme.
Mr Cullen has lambasted the Green Party on a number of TV and radio interviews and blamed the junior Government partner for "killing" the motor trade with changes to the car tax regime in favour of less polluting vehicles that cost the economy billions of euro.
He claimed the motor industry has collapsed by 65pc -- and the Green Party is mostly to blame.
Mr Boyle rejected the claims, but was slapped down by the former Renault Ireland chief when he said one-in-eight people in the country were getting a new car every year during the boom years. But Mr Cullen responded: "Hold on Dan, mathematics, you'd want to go back to school. You're saying one in eight of the population, it's one in 80, well 8 and 80 is a huge difference and here we are with the Greens again getting it all wrong."
Mr Boyle replied "I'm sorry, I'm sorry", but the damage was already done.
"You're sorry? It's too late now. You killed the motor trade, people can't buy a new car, you stopped it and it's all because of the Greens," Mr Cullen snapped back.
Mr Cullen later insisted he had "nothing against the Green Party or Mr Boyle "per se",
But he added: "They need to get their heads out of the sand and accept they've contributed to this."
- Aidan O'Connor
