THE GREEN PARTY is hoping to raise €100,000 in donations from members and well-wishers to keep the party afloat after its disastrous performance in the general election.
The proposal for a €100-a-head collection was mooted at a “regather and refocus” meeting in a Dublin hotel on Saturday which was attended by up to 300 party members.
Outgoing leader John Gormley said his priority now was to establish a new funding base for the party.
With party chairman Senator Dan Boyle he had undertaken to lead the fundraising drive, which would be voluntary. “A lot of people who are not members are saying they don’t like the idea of there being no Green Party and they would be prepared to pay €100,” he said.
The Greens had six TDs and employed 40-50 staff when in government with Fianna Fáil, but staffing fell to about 20 after the party left the Government in January. All but two of its staff in the Dublin head office were made redundant earlier this month.
State funding will run out later in the year and will not be renewed because the party failed to poll over the 2 per cent hurdle required for such support.
Although Mr Gormley had indicated he will be stepping down as leader in a few months’ time, the question of a successor was not discussed at the meeting.
Former TDs Eamon Ryan and Ciarán Cuffe, along with Mr Boyle, are seen as possible contenders, although the party could opt for someone with a lower profile and fewer associations with the last government.
Mr Gormley said his successor would be chosen in May or June. He said he would not be standing in the next local elections but planned to be a candidate in the next general election, which could be up to five years away.
Mr Boyle and Niall Ó Brolcháin from Galway are standing as Green candidates in the Seanad election, but are not expected to gain seats. There are just three Green councillors in the State.
The weekend meeting was closed to non-members, and much of the proceedings were conducted in workshop format.
Speaking outside, Senator Mark Dearey from Co Louth said lack of funding was not an insuperable problem for the party: “We’ve always managed to operate with relatively small resources. It’s a situation we can deal with.”
Mr Dearey, who is not standing for the leadership, said the party needed to focus on work with local groups in their communities. He admitted ties with such groups had weakened over the time the Greens were in government.
He described the gathering as “forward-looking”, but added that members had spent time agreeing what the key messages from the electorate had been.
“It hasn’t been a day of recrimination. There has been criticism and that’s normal and mature, but it was a day when unity of purpose emerged,” he said.
Former Green county councillor Catherine Martin said the party needed to “go back to the grassroots” and immerse itself in local community issues.
Ms Martin said she would have expected more criticism at the meeting of the party’s participation in government than was the case. “Today was about looking forward; we’ve left behind our mistakes.”
According to Mr Gormley, there was a “real determination” on the part of members at the gathering to keep going. “They see our issues as still the most pertinent issues, such as peak oil, climate change and green jobs.”
