Roger Garland (born February 1933) is an Irish environmental activist and a former Green Party politician who served as a

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( ; ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish language, Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas, the parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The official Engli ...

(TD) for the Dublin South constituency from 1989 to 1992. He was the Green Party's first candidate to be elected to Dáil Éireann.

Biography

Garland was educated at Castleknock College in

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 ...

. He was a founder member of the Green Party. He stood for the Green Party at the 1989 general election, and was elected to represent Dublin South, becoming the party's first ever TD. Garland lost his seat following the 1992 general election with a dramatic fall in his vote, dropping from 8.8% in 1989 to 3.8%, which was among the lowest votes for a sitting TD. At the 1994 European Parliament election, Garland backed an independent Green candidate Peter Sweetman, over the official Green Party candidate, Nuala Ahern, in the Leinster constituency. Ahern went on to win the seat, to the surprise of many, and an attempt was made to throw Garland out of the party for his disloyalty, including a vote in a specially convened party council. Following the 2007 general election, Garland was one of the leading internal critics of the Greens' decision to enter 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 ...

. In 1997, he helped found ''Friends of the Irish Environment'', a network of independent environmentalists. He was also chairman of the Keep Ireland Open, and was a member of the environmental board of An Taisce.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garland, Roger 1933 births Living people Green Party (Ireland) TDs Irish environmentalists Members of the 26th Dáil People educated at Castleknock College