‘We haven’t had our best day’: Greens set to suffer significant election defeats

The Green Party will suffer significant losses in the Irish general election, with its leader expecting only a handful of MPs to return.

Children’s Minister Roderick O’Gorman said the party could not buck the trend in Ireland of junior coalition partners in the Fine Gael and Fianna Fail governments losing support in subsequent elections.

He said they expect to retain two or three of the 12 seats they won in the 2020 election amid a worldwide “green wave.”

“Certainly this is a disappointing result for our party today,” Mr O’Gorman told reporters in Ongar, Dublin.

“It’s difficult for a small party in government, it’s a long tradition, it’s Irish history. We hoped that when we came to the elections we would be able to resist this, but today we could not resist it.”

Mr O’Gorman, the West Dublin candidate, is among the outgoing Green Party TDs fighting to retain their seats.

Culture Secretary Catherine Martin, who is fighting to remain the Green Party TD for Dublin’s Rathdown, said the race in her four-seat constituency was “very tight”.

“We come (to government) without fear because the climate issue and the biodiversity crisis are (more important) than our survival,” she told RTE radio.

“I stand by and am proud of our delivery experience.”

Greens candidate in Waterford Mark Ó Cathaçai has said he will not “shake himself up” to retain his seat in the constituency, while junior minister Ossian Smith appears to be at risk of losing his seat in Dun Laoghaire.

Junior minister Joe O’Brien is expected to lose his seat in Dublin Fingal, Nysa Hourigan is under threat in Dublin Central and Wicklow’s Stephen Matthews has only 4% of first preferences.

Former Green Party leader Eamon Ryan, who announced his retirement from frontline politics in June, said his party had not had its best day.

Arriving at the RDS counting center in Dublin, the outgoing environment minister told reporters: “If you don’t get elected you will accept it, but you will come back stronger and you will have learned your lessons and we have done it in the past and we will do it again.”

He added: “Regardless of today’s results, there will be a strong Green Party in Ireland, we have deep roots in the community and it is a very clear political philosophy and I think there is still a place for it in Irish politics. »

Mr Ryan said he did not believe his decision to resign and the timing of his announcement affected the outcome of the party.

“Unfortunately – and this is just one of those days – we didn’t get the number of votes we needed,” he said.

He added: “We will look back and see what lessons we have learned, what we can learn and what we can do differently.

“It’s just one of those days where we didn’t have a good day.