Green Party (Ireland)

It is a green political party that works in both the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It has eco-socialist/green left groups, similar to other like-minded Green parties, as well as more moderate, pragmatic factions. It supports the European Union in its policies. The Ecology Party of Ireland was created in 1981 by Dublin teacher Christopher Fettes under the name Ecology Party of Ireland. The party changed its name to the Green Alliance in 1983 and adopted its present English language name in 1987, although the party's Irish name remained the same. Currently, the party's leader is Eamon Ryan, its deputy leader is Catherine Martin, and its Cathoirleach (Chairperson) is Pauline O'Reilly, all of whom are elected in June 2020. Candidate for the Green Party have been elected to the majority of levels of government, including local (in both the Republic and Northern Ireland), Dáil Éireann, the Northern Ireland Assembly, and the European Parliament.

In 1989, the Green Party was elected to the Dáil for the first time. Previously, it served in the Irish government twice, first as a junior partner in a coalition with Fianna Fáil from 2007 to 2011, and then most recently as a member of a coalition with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael since June 2020. Following its first term in office, the party was completely defeated in the February 2011 election, losing all six of its members of Parliament. It was re-elected to the Dáil in the February 2016 election, bringing it back to two seats. Following this, Grace O'Sullivan was elected to the Seanad on April 26, 2016, and Joe O'Brien was elected to Dáil Éireann in the 2019 Dublin Fingal by-election, both of which took place on April 26, 2016. The party achieved its best-ever performance in the 2020 general election, winning 12 seats in the House of Commons and rising to become the fourth-largest political party in Ireland.

As the Ecology Party, the Green Party was founded in 1981 by Christopher Fettes, who served as the party's first chairwoman. At their first public appearance, the party declared that they will be contesting the November 1982 general election. The event was attended by seven of the party's election candidates, twenty party sympathisers, and one journalist from the local newspaper. As part of his opening remarks, Fettes said that the party did not anticipate to gain any seats in the legislature. Afterward, Willy Clingan, a journalist who was in attendance, noted that "the Ecology Party announced its seven election candidates in the sweetest and most endearingly honest news conference of the whole campaign." Within this elections, the Ecology Party received 0.2 percent of votes.