Clare’s Green Senator insists a change of leadership won’t harm the party’s chances in the impending General Election.
Its after Minister Eamon Ryan announced he would be stepping down yesterday after 13 years at the helm, before Minister Catherine Martin also declared her intention to step aside as Deputy.
The race for Green Party Leader and Deputy Leader is well underway this lunchtime.
So far, Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman is the only candidate to formally throw his hat in the ring and he’s secured the endorsement of TD Marc Ó Cathsaigh, Minister’s Malcolm Noonan and Joe O’Brien and six sitting councillors.
Minister of State, Senator Pippa Hackett is expected to announce her candidacy later today and Limerick TD Brian Leddin, and Deputy Ossian Smyth have already declared their support.
Senator Pauline O’Reilly is also rowing in behind her Seanad colleague.
Since taking the reins of the Green Party after a disastrous general election in 2011, in which the party lost all of its Dáil seats, Eamon Ryan led the party to it’s must successful election results ever within the next nine years.
In 2019, the Greens gained 49 local authority seats and in 2020 secured 12 Dáil seats.
In the latest elections though, the Greens lost all their seats in Europe and more than half it’s seats on city and county councils nationwide.
Meelick Fianna Fáil TD Cathal Crowe was against a number of policies introduced by his coalition partners and says Minister’s Ryan’s stance on the Northern Distributor Road has been a major barrier to progress in Clare.
Clare’s Green Senator insists a change in leadership will do her party no harm in the elections to come.
Inagh Senator Roisín Garvey believes the Greens have been unfairly vilified in political discourse and says regardless of who forms the next government, the focus must be tackling housing, health and infrastructure deficits.
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