The Green Party (, ) is a
green
Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...
that operates in the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...
and
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
. It holds a
pro-European
Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Pol ...
stance.
It was founded as the Ecology Party of Ireland in 1981 by
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
teacher
Christopher Fettes. The party became the Green Alliance in 1983 and adopted its current English language name in 1987 while the Irish name was kept unchanged. The party leader is
Roderic O'Gorman, the deputy leader is Senator
Róisín Garvey and the cathaoirleach (chairperson) is Janet Horner.
Green Party candidates have been elected to most levels of representation:
local government
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state.
Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...
(in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland),
Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann ( ; , ) is the lower house and principal chamber of the Oireachtas, which also includes the president of Ireland and a senate called Seanad Éireann.Article 15.1.2° of the Constitution of Ireland reads: "The Oireachtas shall co ...
, the
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly (; ), often referred to by the metonym ''Stormont'', is the devolved unicameral legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliam ...
, and the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
.
The Green Party first entered the Dáil in 1989. It has participated in the
Irish government
The Government of Ireland () is the executive authority of Ireland, headed by the , the head of government. The government – also known as the cabinet – is composed of ministers, each of whom must be a member of the , which consists of ...
twice, from 2007 to 2011 as junior partner in a coalition with
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland.
Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...
, and since June 2020 in a coalition with Fianna Fáil and
Fine Gael
Fine Gael ( ; ; ) is a centre-right, liberal-conservative, Christian democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil Éireann. The party had a member ...
. Following the first period in government, the party suffered a wipeout in the
February 2011 election, losing all six of its
TDs. In the
February 2016 election, it returned to the Dáil with two seats. Following this,
Grace O'Sullivan was elected to the
Seanad on 26 April that year of 2016 and
Joe O'Brien was elected to
Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann ( ; , ) is the lower house and principal chamber of the Oireachtas, which also includes the president of Ireland and a senate called Seanad Éireann.Article 15.1.2° of the Constitution of Ireland reads: "The Oireachtas shall co ...
in the
2019 Dublin Fingal by-election. In the
2020 general election, the party had its best result ever, securing 12 TDs and becoming the fourth largest party in the
33rd Dáil before losing all but one seat in the
2024 general election.
History
Early years and first rise

The Green Party began life as the ''Ecology Party'' in 1981, with
Christopher Fettes serving as the party's first chairperson. The party's first public appearance was modest: the event announced that they would be contesting the
November 1982 general election, and was attended by their seven election candidates, 20 party supporters, and one singular journalist. Fettes had opened the meeting by noting the party didn't expect to win any seats. Willy Clingan, the journalist present, recalled that "The Ecology Party introduced its seven election candidates at the nicest and most endearingly honest press conference of the whole campaign".
The Ecology party took 0.2% of the vote that year.
Following a name change to the ''Green Alliance'', it contested the
1984 European elections, with party founder
Roger Garland winning 1.9% in the Dublin constituency. The following year, it won its first election when Marcus Counihan was elected to
Killarney Urban District Council at the
1985 local elections, buoyed by winning 5,200 first preference votes as a European candidate in Dublin
the previous year. The party nationally ran 34 candidates and won 0.6% of the vote.
The party continued to struggle until the
1989 general election when the Green Party (as it was now named) won its first seat in
Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann ( ; , ) is the lower house and principal chamber of the Oireachtas, which also includes the president of Ireland and a senate called Seanad Éireann.Article 15.1.2° of the Constitution of Ireland reads: "The Oireachtas shall co ...
, when Roger Garland was elected in
Dublin South. Garland lost his seat at the
1992 general election, while
Trevor Sargent gained a seat in
Dublin North. In the
1994 European election,
Patricia McKenna
Patricia McKenna (born 13 March 1957) is an Irish Independent politician (Ireland), independent and former Green Party (Ireland), Green Party politician. She served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Dublin (European Parliament ...
topped the poll in the Dublin constituency and
Nuala Ahern won a seat in Leinster. They retained their
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
seats in the
1999 European election, although the party lost five councillors in local elections held that year despite an increase in its vote. At the
1997 general election, the party gained a seat when
John Gormley won a Dáil seat in
Dublin South-East.
At the
2002 general election, the party made a breakthrough, getting six
Teachtaí Dála (TDs) elected to the Dáil with 4% of the national vote. However, in the
2004 European election, the party lost both of its European Parliament seats. In the
2004 local elections, it increased its number of councillors at county level from eight to 18 (out of 883) and at town council level from five to 14 (out of 744).
The party gained its first representation in the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2007, the
Green Party in Northern Ireland having become a regional branch of the party the previous year.
First term in government
The Green Party entered government for the first time after the
2007 general election, held on 24 May. Although its share of first-preference votes increased at the election, the party failed to increase the number of TDs returned.
Mary White won a seat for the first time in
Carlow–Kilkenny; however,
Dan Boyle lost his seat in
Cork South-Central. The party had approached the 2007 general election on an independent platform, not ruling any out coalition partners while expressing its preference for an alternative to the outgoing coalition of
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland.
Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...
and the
Progressive Democrats. Neither the outgoing government nor an alternative of
Fine Gael
Fine Gael ( ; ; ) is a centre-right, liberal-conservative, Christian democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil Éireann. The party had a member ...
,
Labour and the Green Party had sufficient seats to form a majority. Fine Gael ruled out a coalition arrangement with
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...
, opening the way for Green Party negotiations with Fianna Fáil.
Some saw the idea of going into coalition with Fianna Fáil as a "sell-out".
Before the negotiations began,
Ciarán Cuffe
Ciarán Cuffe (born 3 April 1963) is an Irish politician who has been co-chair of the European Green Party (EGP) since December 2024. He served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Ireland for the Dublin constituency from July 2019 ...
TD wrote on his blog that "a deal with Fianna Fáil would be a deal with the devil… and
he Green Party would bedecimated as a Party". After protracted negotiations, a draft programme for government was agreed to between the Greens and Fianna Fáil.
Early Green demands included the introduction of legislation on corporate donations, a
moratorium on using public land to build private hospitals, and altering the route of the
M3 motorway near the
Hill of Tara
The Hill of Tara ( or ) is a hill and ancient ceremonial and burial site near Skryne in County Meath, Ireland. Tradition identifies the hill as the inauguration place and seat of the High Kings of Ireland; it also appears in Irish mythology. ...
; none of these demands appeared in the final government programme.
On 13 June 2007, Green members at the
Mansion House in Dublin voted 86% in favour (441 to 67; with 2 spoilt votes) of entering coalition with Fianna Fáil. The following day, the six Green Party TDs voted for the re-election of
Bertie Ahern
Bartholomew Patrick "Bertie" Ahern (born 12 September 1951) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1997 to 2008, and as Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1994 to 2008. A Teachta Dála (TD) from 1977 to 2011, he served ...
as
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...
.
New party leader John Gormley was appointed as
Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and
Eamon Ryan was appointed as
Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. Trevor Sargent was appointed as
Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food with responsibility for Food and
Horticulture
Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...
.
Before its entry into government, the Green Party had been a vocal supporter of the
Shell to Sea movement,
the campaign to reroute the M3
motorway
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...
away from
Tara, and (to a lesser extent) the campaign to end
United States military
The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...
use of
Shannon Airport. After the party entered government there were no substantive changes in government policy on these issues, which meant that Eamon Ryan oversaw the
Corrib gas project while he was in office. The Green Party had, at its 2007 annual conference, made an inquiry into the irregularities surrounding the project (see
Corrib gas controversy) a precondition of entering government, but changed its stance during post-election negotiations with Fianna Fáil.
The 2008 budget did not include a
carbon levy on fuels such as petrol, diesel and home heating oil, which the Green Party had sought before the election.
A carbon levy was, however, introduced in the 2010 Budget. The 2008 budget did include a separate
carbon budget announced by Gormley, which introduced new energy efficiency tax credit,
a ban on
incandescent bulbs from January 2009, a tax scheme incentivising commuters' purchases of bicycles and a new scale of
vehicle registration tax based on carbon emissions.
At a special convention on whether to support the
Treaty of Lisbon on 19 January 2008, the party voted 63.5% in favour of supporting the Treaty; this fell short of the party's two-thirds majority requirement for policy issues. As a result, the Green Party did not have an official campaign in the
first Lisbon Treaty referendum, although individual members were involved on different sides. The referendum did not pass in 2008, and following the Irish government's negotiation with EU member states of additional legal guarantees and assurances, the Green Party held another special convention meeting in Dublin on 18 July 2009 to decide its position on the
second Lisbon referendum. Precisely two-thirds of party members present voted to campaign for a 'Yes' in the referendum. This was the first time in the party's history that it had campaigned in favour of a European treaty.
The government's response to the
post-2008 banking crisis significantly affected the party's support, and it suffered at the
2009 local elections, returning with only three County Council seats in total and losing its entire traditional Dublin base, with the exception of a Town Council seat in Balbriggan.
Déirdre de Búrca, one of two Green senators
nominated by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in 2007, resigned from the party and her seat in 2010, in part owing to the party's inability to secure her a job in the
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...
. On 23 February 2010, Trevor Sargent resigned as Minister of State for Food and Horticulture owing to allegations over contacting
Gardaí about a criminal case involving a constituent, with
Ciarán Cuffe
Ciarán Cuffe (born 3 April 1963) is an Irish politician who has been co-chair of the European Green Party (EGP) since December 2024. He served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Ireland for the Dublin constituency from July 2019 ...
being appointed as his replacement the following March. By 2010, opinion polls showed strong support for
an immediate election with the Greens polling at just 2%.
The Green Party supported the passage of legislation for
EC–
ECB–
IMF financial support for Ireland's bank bailout. On 19 January, the party derailed Taoiseach
Brian Cowen
Brian Bernard Cowen (born 10 January 1960) is an Irish former politician who served as Taoiseach and Leader of Fianna Fáil from 2008 to 2011. Cowen served as a TD for the constituency of Laois–Offaly from 1984 to 2011 and served in several ...
's plans to reshuffle his cabinet when it refused to endorse Cowen's intended replacement ministers, forcing Cowen to redistribute the vacant portfolios among incumbent ministers. The Greens were angered at not having been consulted about this effort, and went as far as to threaten to pull out of the coalition unless Cowen set a firm date for an election due that spring. He ultimately set the date for 11 March.
On 23 January 2011, the Green Party met with Cowen following his resignation as leader of senior coalition partner Fianna Fáil the previous afternoon. The Green Party then announced it was breaking off the coalition and going into opposition with immediate effect. Ministers Gormley and Ryan resigned as cabinet ministers, and Cuffe and White resigned as Ministers of State.
Green Party leader John Gormley said at a press conference announcing the withdrawal:
In almost four years in Government, from 2007 to 2011, the Green Party contributed to the passage of
civil partnership for same-sex couples, the introduction of major planning reform, a major increase in renewable energy output, progressive budgets, and a nationwide scheme of home insulation retrofitting.
Wipeout, recovery, and second government term
Fallout from the 2011 general election
The party lost all of its six TDs at the
2011 general election,
including former Ministers John Gormley and Eamon Ryan. Three of their six TDs lost their deposits. The party's share of the vote fell below 2%, meaning that they could not reclaim election expenses, and their lack of parliamentary representation led to the ending of state funding for the party. The party candidates in the
2011 election to the Seanad were Dan Boyle and
Niall Ó Brolcháin; neither was elected, and as a result, for the first time since 1989 the Green Party had no representatives in the
Oireachtas
The Oireachtas ( ; ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of the president of Ireland and the two houses of the Oireachtas (): a house ...
.
In the aftermath of the wipeout Eamon Ryan was elected as party leader on 27 May 2011, succeeding John Gormley, while Catherine Martin was later appointed the deputy leader of the party.
2016 to 2019 electoral successes
At the
2016 general election Ryan and Martin gained two seats in the Dáil while
Grace O'Sullivan picked up a seat in the
Seanad. In doing so the Green party became the first Irish political party to lose all their seats in a general election but come back and win seats in a subsequent election. The Greens continued to pick up momentum in 2019, performing quite well during the concurrent
2019 local elections and
2019 European Parliament election
The 2019 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 23 and 26 May 2019. It was the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) we ...
while in November that same year the party saw
Pippa Hackett win a seat in the Seanad and
Joe O'Brien bring home the party's first ever by-election win in the
2019 Dublin Fingal by-election.
Return to government
At the
2020 general election, the party had its best result ever, winning 7.1% of the first-preference votes and returning 12 TDs, an increase of ten from the last election. It became the fourth-largest party in the Dáil and entered government in
coalition
A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces.
Formation
According to ''A G ...
with
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland.
Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...
and
Fine Gael
Fine Gael ( ; ; ) is a centre-right, liberal-conservative, Christian democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil Éireann. The party had a member ...
. Ryan, Martin and
Roderic O'Gorman were appointed as cabinet ministers, with four Green
Ministers of State.
Clare Bailey, the leader of the
Green Party in Northern Ireland, was amongst a number of Green members who stood against the coalition. She said it proposed the "most fiscally conservative arrangements in a generation" and that "the economic and finances behind this deal will really lead to some of the most vulnerable being hit the hardest", as well as it not doing enough on climate and social justice. She also said the deal "fails to deliver on our promise to tackle homelessness and provide better healthcare", "represents an unjust recovery" and "sets out an inadequate and vague pathway towards climate action". The party returned two senators at the 2020 Seanad election, with a further two senators nominated by the
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...
,
Micheál Martin
Micheál Martin (; born 16 August 1960) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician serving as Taoiseach since January 2025, having previously held the position from 2020 to 2022. Martin served as Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Min ...
bringing the total party representation in the
Oireachtas
The Oireachtas ( ; ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of the president of Ireland and the two houses of the Oireachtas (): a house ...
to 16. In July 2020, Eamon Ryan retained his leadership of the party with a narrow leadership election victory over Catherine Martin in the
2020 Green Party leadership election by 994 votes to 946, a margin of 48 votes.
Internal disputes
Despite the success at the general election, the party found itself dogged by infighting and resignations.
Saoirse McHugh, a candidate in the 2019 European elections, 2020 general election and the
2020 Seanad election, resigned from the party upon the Greens entering government with Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, parties she believed would damage public enthusiasm for environmentalist policies by pairing them with "socially regressive" policies. Over the course of 2020, four councillors as well as both the leader of the
Young Greens and the leader of the Queer Greens left the party, all citing either bullying within the party or dissatisfaction with the coalition and its policies as the cause. Amongst the resignations were councillors
Lorna Bogue and Liam Sinclair, who subsequently formed a new left-wing green party called
Rabharta in June 2021.
Infighting continued in 2021 when the party Cathaoirleach
Hazel Chu, the
Lord Mayor of Dublin
The Lord Mayor of Dublin () is the honorary title of the chairperson ( ) of Dublin City Council which is the local government body for the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The incumbent, since December 2024, is Fine Gael councillor Emma ...
, launched a campaign to run for the
2021 Seanad by-elections with the support of six members of the Green Party Parliamentary Party, but without official backing from the party.
Senators
Pippa Hackett,
Pauline O'Reilly and
Róisín Garvey tabled a motion of no confidence in Chu as Cathaoirleach of the party. Deputy leader, Catherine Martin urged the senators to withdraw the motion and it was later replaced with a motion calling for Chu to temporarily step aside from the position as party chair for the duration of the election. This was passed by 11 votes to five at a meeting of the Parliamentary Party. The Executive Council of the party, however, decided not to follow the Parliamentary Party's decision and Chu remained in the position of Cathaoirleach until the end of her term in December 2021. Chu ran in the
2022 Dublin University by-election and was commended by the party for "championing climate action and inclusion".
In May 2022, Green TDs
Neasa Hourigan and
Patrick Costello were suspended from the party for six months after they went against the
party whip and voted for an opposition motion calling for the new
National Maternity Hospital to be built on land wholly owned by the state. Hourigan was suspended again in March 2023, this time for 15 months, after she voted against the government on the issue of ending a ban on evictions.
Notable achievements
The Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021 was one of the Greens' flagship policies. The law enacted a legally binding path to
net zero emissions by 2050. Five-year carbon budgets produced by the Climate Change Advisory Council will dictate the path to carbon neutrality, with the aim of the first two budgets creating a 51% reduction by 2030.
The five-year budgets will not be legally binding.
The party also secured significantly increased budgets for active and sustainable travel including greenways and cycle lanes, the LocalLink rural bus network, decreases in public transport fares, a new forestry programme, increased incentives for solar and for retrofit, and the recognition of the circular economy. Outside of the core climate and environmental policies the party also implemented a pilot scheme for a basic income for the arts sector and large cuts in childcare costs.
In June 2024, the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
Environment Council approved the
Nature Restoration Law which was described as "among the EU's biggest environmental policies". The role of Eamon Ryan in convincing other ministers to support the law was considered to be pivotal to its success.
2024 onwards
At the
2024 local elections, the party lost almost half of its council seats across the country, although it topped the poll in four
local electoral area
A local electoral area (LEA; ) is an electoral area for elections to Local government in the Republic of Ireland, local authorities in Ireland. All elections in the Republic of Ireland, elections use the single transferable vote. Republic of Ir ...
s in
Dublin City. At the
2024 European Parliament elections, Ciarán Cuffe and Grace O'Sullivan both lost their seats, while in the
Limerick mayoral election, the party's candidate, Brian Leddin, won 2.89% of the vote and was eliminated on the fifth count.
On 18 June 2024,
Eamon Ryan announced his resignation as party leader. Ryan also announced that he would not be seeking re-election as a TD for
Dublin Bay South at the next general election. Later the same day
Catherine Martin announced her resignation as deputy leader and would not be seeking the leadership role. On 19 June,
Roderic O'Gorman and Senator
Pippa Hackett both announced that they would be seeking nominations for the leadership position. On 8 July, O'Gorman was narrowly elected over Hackett with 51.89% of the vote.
On 14 July, Senator
Róisín Garvey narrowly defeated
Neasa Hourigan with 51% of the vote to become deputy leader.
At the
2024 general election the party retained one of their twelve seats, with party leader
Roderic O'Gorman being elected. The party won 3% of the vote.
Ideology and policies
The Green Party has seven "founding principles", which are:
Broadly, these founding principles reflect the "four pillars" of
green politics
Green politics, or ecopolitics, is a political ideology that aims to foster an ecologically sustainable society often, but not always, rooted in environmentalism, nonviolence, social justice and grassroots democracy.#Wal10, Wall 2010. p. 12-13. ...
observed by the majority of Green Parties internationally:
ecological wisdom,
social justice
Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...
,
grassroots democracy, and
nonviolence
Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...
. They also reflect the six guiding principles of the
Global Greens, which also includes a respect for diversity as a principle.
While strongly associated with
environmentalist
Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...
policies, the party also has policies covering all other key areas. These include protection of the
Irish language
Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...
, lowering the
voting age in Ireland to 16, and support for
universal healthcare
Universal health care (also called universal health coverage, universal coverage, or universal care) is a health care system in which all residents of a particular country or region are assured right to health, access to health care. It is genera ...
. The party also advocates that terminally ill people should have the right to legally choose
assisted dying, stating "provisions should apply only to those with a terminal illness which is likely to result in death within six months". It also states that "such a right would only apply where the person has a clear and settled intention to end their own life which is proved by making, and signing, a written declaration to that effect. Such a declaration must be countersigned by two qualified doctors".
Internal factions

As other like-minded
green parties, it has
eco-socialist/
green left and more moderate factions. In parallel to other Green Parties in Europe, the 1980s and 1990s saw a division within the Irish Green Party between two factions; the "Realists" (nicknamed the "Realos") and the "Fundamentalists (nicknamed the "Fundies"). The 'Realists' advocated taking a pragmatic approach to politics, which would mean having to accept some compromises on policy in order to get party members elected and into government in order to enact change. The 'Fundamentalists' advocated more radical policies and rejected appeals for pragmatism, citing that the looming effects of Climate Change would leave no time for compromise. Following a national convention in 1998 which saw a realist majority of members defeat a minority of fundamentalist members on a number of votes, and the party subsequently enter government for the first time in 2007, the factionalism of the 'Realists vs the Fundamentalists' was seen to have wilted away with the 'Realists' becoming the ascendent faction. However, in some respects, the division only laid dormant.
Following the
2019 local elections and the
2020 general election, the party had more elected representatives than ever before as well as its highest ever membership.
On 22 July 2020, several prominent members of the party formed the "Just Transition Greens", an affiliate group within the party with a green left/eco-socialist outlook, who have the objective of moving the party towards policies based on the concept of a "
Just Transition". During the 2020 Green Party leadership election, a significant aspect of the candidacy of Catherine Martin was that it was suggested that Martin could better represent the views of these individuals within the party than the incumbent Eamon Ryan.
Organisation
The National Executive Committee is the organising committee of the party. It comprises the party leader Roderic O'Gorman, the deputy leader Róisín Garvey, the Cathaoirleach Pauline O'Reilly, the National Coordinator, the General Secretary (in a non-voting role), a Young Greens representative, the Treasurer and ten members elected annually at the party convention.
Leadership
Party leader
Deputy leader
Cathaoirleach
Note: Although Christopher Fettes chaired the party initially, the position of Cathaoirleach was not created until 2002.
Leadership organisation
The party did not have a national leader until 2001. At a special "Leadership Convention" in Kilkenny on 6 October 2001, Trevor Sargent was elected the first official leader of the Green Party while Mary White was elected deputy leader. Sargent was re-elected to his position in 2003 and again in 2005. The party's constitution requires that a leadership election be held within six months of a general election.
Sargent resigned the leadership in the wake of the 2007 general election to the
30th Dáil. During the campaign, Sargent had promised that he would not lead the party into Government with Fianna Fáil. At the election the party retained six Dáil seats, making it the most likely partner for Fianna Fáil. Sargent and the party negotiated a coalition government; at the 12 June 2007 membership meeting to approve the agreement, he announced his resignation as leader.
In the subsequent leadership election, John Gormley became the new leader on 17 July 2007, defeating
Patricia McKenna
Patricia McKenna (born 13 March 1957) is an Irish Independent politician (Ireland), independent and former Green Party (Ireland), Green Party politician. She served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Dublin (European Parliament ...
by 478 votes to 263. Mary White was subsequently re-elected as the deputy Leader. Gormley served as Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government from July 2007 until the Green Party's decision to exit government in December 2010.
Following the election defeats of 2011, Gormley announced his intention not to seek another term as Green Party leader. Eamon Ryan was elected as the new party leader, over party colleagues Phil Kearney and Cllr Malcolm Noonan in a postal ballot election of party members in May 2011. Monaghan-based former councillor Catherine Martin defeated Down-based
Dr John Barry and former Senator Mark Dearey to the post of deputy leader on 11 June 2011 during the party's annual convention. Roderic O'Gorman was elected party chairperson.
The Green Party lost all its Dáil seats in the 2011 general election. Party Chairman Dan Boyle and Déirdre de Búrca were nominated by the Taoiseach to Seanad Éireann after the formation of the Fianna Fáil–Progressive Democrats–Green Party government in 2007, and Niall Ó Brolcháin was elected in December 2009. De Búrca resigned in February 2010, and was replaced by Mark Dearey. Neither Boyle nor O'Brolchain was re-elected to Seanad Éireann in the Seanad election of 2011, leaving the Green Party without Oireachtas representation until the 2016 general election, in which it regained two Dáil seats.
Ryan's leadership was challenged by deputy leader Catherine Martin in 2020 after the
2020 government formation; he narrowly won a poll of party members, 994 votes (51.2%) to 946.
Irish and European politics
The Green Party is organised throughout the island of Ireland, with regional structures in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The
Green Party Northern Ireland voted to become a regional partner of the Green Party in Ireland in 2005 at its annual convention, and again in a postal ballot in March 2006.
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson (June 20, 1942 – June 11, 2025) was an American musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often Brian Wilson is a genius, called a genius for his novel approaches to pop compositio ...
, formerly a councillor for the
Alliance Party, won the Green Party's first seat in the
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly (; ), often referred to by the metonym ''Stormont'', is the devolved unicameral legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliam ...
in the
2007 election.
Steven Agnew later held that seat from the
2011 election until his resignation in September 2019.
Election results
Dáil Éireann
Local elections
Devolved Northern Ireland legislatures
Westminster
European Parliament (Republic of Ireland seats only)
See also
*
List of environmental organisations
References
External links
*
Green Party 2007 election manifesto(from the Wayback Machine)
{{Authority control
Green parties in Europe
Green political parties
Political parties established in 1981
Political parties in the Republic of Ireland
European Green Party
Global Greens member parties
All-Ireland political parties