When the Green Party’s upcoming leadership election occurs on Monday, it is anticipated that the results will be revealed swiftly due to electronic voting methods. The party’s approximate 4,000 members, scattered across Ireland and Northern Ireland, will participate in the online vote. Green Party veterans and authorities have avoided offering any future forecasts or estimates, utilising only the barest hint of indications from the political environment.
Minister Roderic O’Gorman, with his decades of notable service to the party and track record of addressing difficult issues such as refugee and asylum seeker influx, stands as a favoured candidate on paper. Yet, the Green Party’s members are known for their unpredictability, as past elections have shown.
The 2020 leadership vote followed a record-breaking election for the party, ultimately leading them into government. But despite this success, party chief Eamon Ryan barely kept his position, beating deputy leader Catherine Martin by under 50 of the nearly 2,000 votes cast. It should be noted, most of the party’s senior ranks supported him.
That’s why the potential for Pippa Hackett to emerge as the surprise winner cannot be dismissed. Her unique perspective on the leadership debate could resonate with those members outside of Dublin. She contends that the party needs to broaden its appeal through a leader who understands rural lifestyle and can connect with farmers and people residing outside Dublin’s urban and rural areas.
During the last pre-election meeting, Hackett voiced the concerns she has heard: that the Green Party is disconnected, judgmental, and portrays a Dublin-centric bias. She insists they are not extremists’ views, but rather those of ordinary citizens countrywide. She expresses regret that despite the exceptional dedication of candidates nationally, many voters couldn’t see past the party’s logo and name, placing Green Party election hopefuls at a disadvantage.
Hackett finds herself at a disadvantage due to her position as a non-senior Minister, despite her presence in Cabinet. Furthermore, she is a senator rather than a TD – the only other party that has experienced leadership from the Seanad was the Progressive Democrats during their decline. Winning a seat in Offaly might prove challenging for her as it’s not perceived as a Green stronghold by many.
O’Gorman has expressed his intention to widen the party’s policy framework beyond the environment and climate change, which are currently at the Green Party’s heart; he is confident of achieving this without abandoning the party’s underpinning environmental focus.
The deputy leader position sees a separate poll being conducted, with three TDs – Ossian Smyth, Neasa Hourigan, and Senator Róisín Garvey – vying for the spot.
Bewley’s Cafe on Grafton Street in Dublin will be the site where the outcome will be released, estimated around 11.15am, once the poll concludes.