NEW GREEN Party leader Eamon Ryan is considering a run in the next European elections as a way of revitalising the party’s political fortunes.
Mr Ryan, who defeated two other candidates for the post, said his first tasks were to attract a new generation into the party and to “slay the myth” that it was anti-rural.
Speaking after his election yesterday, he identified the 2014 local elections as the target for rejuvenating the fortunes of the Greens after their electoral drubbing this year.
However, the former minister declined to commit to standing in the local election himself at this stage, but identified the European election to be held on the same day and a lord mayoral election in Dublin as possible targets.
The Greens lost all six seats in the general election last February and saw their national vote dip below 2 per cent. Currently, the party holds just three seats on local authorities around the country.
Mr Ryan had the highest profile of the three candidates who stood for the leadership, but his margin of victory was far from clear-cut. In the poll, he obtained 1,197 points, against 914 for Kilkenny county councillor Malcolm Noonan and 848 for party activist Phil Kearney.
The election was conducted by “preferendum”, which is similar to the system used in the Eurovision, allowing voters to give three points, two points or one point to each candidate, according to preference.
Green sources said Mr Ryan was the preferred candidate of about 65 per cent of voters.
The election was conducted by postal ballot following a series of nationwide hustings. Some 550 Green Party members voted and the turnout was 71.6 per cent.
Congratulating his successor, outgoing party leader John Gormley said Mr Ryan had the passion and commitment to get across the Green message.
Mr Ryan said the Greens would continue to be supportive of the Government in its efforts to deal with the economic crisis. But he claimed the Government did not “get” the Green agenda, and had shown this by shelving initiatives on climate change, the smart economy and local government reform.
After the bruising experience of being in government, he said the party’s job was to win back people’s trust.
He described the last government’s delay in calling byelections as a mistake, and said it should have dealt with the banking crisis more quickly, but added it had got things right in areas such as planning, energy, education and food.
Mr Ryan said because of the party’s straitened circumstances he would not be paid a salary, and was living for now on his ministerial and TD’s severance payments. Acting as Green Party leader would be his main task but he also hoped to take on consultancy work for non-profit organisations in the energy and digital economy sectors.
The Green Party, which once employed 40 people, now has a staff of just one person, and its State funding is due to run out at the end of the year.
The party will elect a deputy leader at a convention next month. Neither Mr Noonan nor Mr Kearney is standing.
Mr Ryan was first elected as a TD in Dublin South in 2002. He was re-elected in 2007 and was a cabinet member as minister for communications, energy and natural resources until the Greens left government last January.
