As Tuesday afternoon neared 4.30pm, a common assumption within the Green Party was that Catherine Martin, the deputy leader, and Roderic O’Gorman, Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, would compete to supersede Eamon Ryan. Yet, this forecast was completely derailed when Ms. Martin stepped back from the contest with a social media post.
Nonetheless, some held onto the belief of a disputed leadership race, as additional hopeful candidates started to crop up by Wednesday. The party generally opined that the successor to Mr. Ryan had to be a current member of the Cabinet.
Should the race take place, many are anticipating that Mr. O’Gorman, being a high-ranking Cabinet Minister with the major children and integration portfolio who hasn’t declined candidacy, will be amongst the runners.
Rumours are also doing rounds that Senator Pippa Hackett, “super-junior” Minister for Agriculture who is part of the Cabinet as well, could potentially throw her hat into the ring. However, she didn’t divulge her plans as of Tuesday.
When it comes to the general election and the struggle to maintain Mr. Ryan’s seat in Dublin Bay South, three possible candidates are in sight – councillors Claire Byrne, Hazel Chu and Carolyn Moore. All of them managed to secure their position in the Dublin City Council earlier this month either by popular vote or, in the case of Ms. Chu, through the first ballot.
Ms. Byrne, who is Mr. Ryan’s parliamentary aide, stood as the party’s representative for the 2021 byelection in the same region. Despite her high public profile as the lord mayor of Dublin, Ms. Chu was not selected by Green Party’s selection convention ahead of the byelection, losing to Ms. Byrne instead. Ultimately, the seat was won by Ivana Bacik, the future leader of the Labour Party.
The Greens will face a tough challenge to maintain their seat in Dublin Bay South.