O'Gorman tipped as frontrunner to replace Ryan as Green Party leader

It has kicked off a three-week leadership campaign, the rules of which are set to be decided by the Green Party’s executive committee in the coming days.

A number of candidates are expected to be in the running for the leadership of the junior coalition partner. It is speculated that, alongside Mr O’Gorman, junior ministers Pippa Hackett, Joe O’Brien, and Ossian Smyth are considering a leadership bid.

While Mr O’Gorman is currently considered the frontrunner, he has not commented publicly on his intentions.

None of these contenders have announced they will be contesting the leadership, but Mr O’Brien told RTÉ’s Drivetime that he is “going over on it”.

One Green Party source said that Mr O’Gorman was likely the “strongest candidate” in the race, given his Cabinet experience over the last four years, while another backed Mr O’Brien as a “strong choice” for his farming background and dedication to “tackling inequality”.

They said that this is “exactly the direction” the Green Party needed to go in ahead of the upcoming general election.

Sources within the party have also indicated that an election boost will be a factor in the decision-making process. The Greens struggled in many areas in the local and European vote.

It is thought that Mr O'Gorman, for example, might get a boost if he was running as party leader, rather than just as a TD. Before the local and European election, his seat was seen as safe, but after poor results in Dublin West, this is now in doubt.

One party source said that Mr O’Gorman had a “massacre” at the local elections, and if elected as leader it would help to “shore up” his vote. They added that Mr O’Gorman is seen as the “natural successor” to Mr Ryan.

In a surprising move, Ms Martin confirmed shortly after Mr Ryan’s announcement that not only would she not contest the leadership, but would also step down as the Green Party’s deputy leader.

Early speculation was rife that Ms Martin would be among the frontrunners to replace Mr Ryan as leader, but this was quickly slapped down by the Media Minister.

In a post on Instagram, Ms Martin paid tribute to Mr Ryan and said that she would instead be focusing on her own ministerial portfolio.

“At this point in time, I will not be putting myself forward for the Leadership contest. I will also step back as Deputy Leader,” Ms Martin said.

I look forward to supporting the new leadership of the party. We are fortunate to have such an extremely talented party membership.

While she ruled out running for the leadership, Ms Martin confirmed that she would be contesting the next general election in her constituency of Dublin Rathdown.

“At a time of great uncertainty in the world, and with the growing impacts of the climate and biodiversity emergency, we need the creative solutions that come from working together - more than ever,” Ms Martin added.

Ms Martin had previously contested the Green Party leadership in 2020, narrowly losing out to Mr Ryan with 946 votes to his 994 votes.

Under current Green Party rules, any member of the party is permitted to run if they receive 50 nominations.

Mr Ryan is also due to step down as a TD at the next election, with a number of Dublin City councillors in line to replace him in his Dublin Bay South constituency.

The three most likely candidates are Claire Byrne, Hazel Chu, and Carolyn Moore, who were all recently re-elected to Dublin City Council.

Ms Byrne, who currently works with Mr Ryan in the Dáil, will be seen as the frontrunner, but both Ms Chu and Ms Moore performed strongly in the recent local elections.

The Transport Minister’s decision to step down comes just a week after the Green Party suffered significant losses at the local and European elections.