Ryan says Green Party will return to electoral success

THE GREEN Party will return to electoral success and should aim to have 25 TDs in 20 years’ time, new leader Eamon Ryan told the party conference in Dublin at the weekend.

Former councillor Catherine Martin was elected deputy leader, beating former senator Mark Dearey and Northern Ireland Green activist John Barry. About 300 people attended the party’s first convention since the general election, in which all six Green TDs lost their seats.

Guest speaker Swedish MP Agneta Borjesson outlined how the Swedish Green Party rebuilt after enduring electoral wipeout following its first period in government. Referring to her contribution, Mr Ryan said: “In 20 years we should have 25 members of Dáil Éireann and follow your example.”

Mr Ryan said the Greens had “friends in Europe” sharing the same philosophy, unlike other Irish political parties. He said the “road to recovery” had begun with the recent election of Steven Agnew as an MLA to the Northern Ireland Assembly in May. “I believe we will return to electoral success,” he said.

“I’ve a faith in the common sense and the decency of the Irish people. I think they’ll vote for us again. I think they get that the Green agenda is the best future for our country. It’s our job just to unlock the potential for that to happen.”

Mr Ryan said the Fianna Fáil-Green administration had come to an end in an “awkward, broken way” and the junior coalition partner had suffered a “savage electoral meltdown” last February. “The people did not buy what we were doing and they punished us.”

He said the Greens had not convinced enough people of their reasons for staying in government, or of the party’s strategy and message. “Whatever it took to communicate, we the parliamentary party didn’t get it right and I personally take my share of the blame in that failure,” he said.

He called on a new generation of people to join the Greens and said there would be senior roles for women within the party. He announced a gathering of environmental activists at Carnsore Point in the summer.

Mr Ryan began his contribution with a tribute to the late Brian Lenihan, former minister for finance.