The outgoing Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan, has said the Green Party is not going away and will come back stronger than ever. This is despite the Party losing 11 out of its 12 Dail seats in the General election last month.
Minister Ryan, who was the leader of the Green Party for 13 years until June this year, said the outcomes of the Local, European and General election were hard for his Party.
However, he said the fightback started on the Sunday night after the General election when the current Green Party Leader Roderick O’Gorman held on to retain his seat.
He said there is a world of difference between where his Party stands now and the situation he was in as party leader back in 2011, the last time the Green Party lost all their Dail seats.
He explained that on that occasion the Greens were left with no money, no representation in the Oireachtas, and had to rebuild from scratch.
“We’re not there now. We have 25 councilors. Really good people around the country. We have Oireachtas representation. We’re still really strong in Europe. So, we’re rebuilding with half the steps already taken. I think that’ll help us tremendously in the next five years”, he said.
Minister Ryan has been talking to all Green Party councilors who didn’t win a Dail seat, to the Party’s TD’s who lost their seats and also to the Green Party’s senators.
“They all have the same sense”, he said.
“We delivered on what we promised for the Irish people. I think a lot of that delivery will continue. The issues we stand for are not going away. The experience we have, and the learnings we gained, will stay with us.
“I hope we can use that experience to serve people by preparing for the future that is ahead of us all and looking after ourselves by protecting nature.”
Eamon Ryan referred to attacks on the Greens by opposition TD’s and by Fianna Fail and Fine Gael on occasion, whom he said were under pressure from rural independent TDs and others.
But he also said the party feels it was attacked “from behind” by certain non-government environmental organizations.
He specifically referred to a piece of analysis published by Friends of the Earth just before the election that concluded the Labour Party and the Social Democrats were more serious about the climate change than the Green Party.
He said if that was true then those parties would be negotiating right now to form a government, but they are not.
Minister Ryan said he is probably most proud of the fact that over the past four and a half years Ireland has changed from being a climate change laggard in Europe to being a leader. He is convinced that will be for the good of Irish people into the future.
He is now worried, however, that some of the gains in climate policy achieved during his time in Government could be eroded.
“I think it will be really important to see what’s in the program for government. Do they commit to the public transport spending that we’ve set in train? Do they agree with the European Union that we should go for more even ambitious targets. Do they deliver on what we’ve already committed to.”
Minister Ryan said the transformation in energy, transport and agriculture, started in Ireland over the past five years, is real.
He described the changes he has initiated in transportation as fundamental but said they will take time because Ireland’s legal and planning system is slow, and that makes it hard to get decisions agreed.
“But the change in public transport, towards making it safe to walk and cycle, is real and fundamental. I don’t think it’s going to stop.
“In energy, to switch to our own fuels, relying on our own energy, rather than importing fuel from abroad. That is good for climate, but also good for jobs, good for the economy.
“And in agriculture, probably the area where we took some of the biggest hits politically – a lot of people were saying, oh, it is rural Ireland versus the Greens. I don’t think that is true.
“What gives me hope, even if we didn’t do well in the last election, is that the Irish people are committed to act on climate – from the farm, the factory, you name it.
“I think this is not going to stop, because the issue is not going away. Unfortunately, science is showing us that we are not acting fast enough.
Referring to his own future now that he has left domestic politics, the former Green Party leader said he will continue to work in climate and nature because he has a lot of experience that he believes can be put to good use.
“But I’ll be doing it in a different way. It won’t be the six-days-a-week work I’ve been doing for the last 20 or 30 years. But I do feel compelled to use that experience and the knowledge I have built up over time. I don’t know exactly how I will do that. I will wait and see in the new year.”
