The Green Party has chosen a negotiating team of five to steer programme-for-government talks. Some of the team are first-time TDs and some – such as deputy leader Catherine Martin – have harboured significant doubts about entering these talks.
Catherine Martin
Elected to the Dundrum ward of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council in 2014 and then to the Dáil in 2016, Martin is the deputy leader of the Green Party. A former teacher of English and music at St Tiernan’s Community School in Dundrum, she joined the Green Party in 2007. She voted against coalition talks with Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, but has vowed to engage with the talks process in good faith. Her inclusion at the helm of the negotiations team will likely make life a bit more difficult for the two bigger parties.
Neasa Hourigan
Neasa Hourigan was elected earlier this year on the ninth count in Dublin Central. She originally trained and worked as an architect, but after the downturn she moved into third-level education. She and her family have lived in Cabra, Dublin, for 15 years. She is a mother of three, and a full-time carer for her oldest child. She has proven herself to be an outspoken member of the party, and championed the idea of a Covid-19 unity government, memorably declaring “I don’t want to talk about solar panels while people are losing their lives”.
Roderic O’Gorman
Elected to Fingal County Council in 2014, he retained his seat in 2019 before going on to win the last seat Dublin West this year. It was his 10th election in 15 years, including four general elections, two byelections and four local elections. He hails from Tyrellstown, but lives in Blanchardstown. O’Gorman has previously made it clear that a programme for government without a firm commitment to the 7 per cent per annum cut to emissions would be unlikely to get the support required from two-thirds of the party’s 3,000 members. Notwithstanding this, O’Gorman is seen by party colleagues as being generally in favour of the Green Party entering government.
Ossian Smyth
Smyth was first elected to represent the Green Party on Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council in 2014 and served as cathaoirleach of the council between 2018 and 2019. He was elected on the sixth count in Dún Laoghaire in this year’s general election, and was a prominent figure during the campaign. As the party’s health spokesman he has spent the last number of weeks formulating the party’s response to the Covid-19 crisis. This may have coloured his view on government formation talks as he recently said that he disagreed with putting in new ministers while the coronavirus crisis was in full scale. “The Government is the government at the moment,” he said.
Marc Ó Cathasaigh
Ó Cathasaigh became the Green Party’s first Waterford TD earlier this year just one year after becoming a councillor. He grew up in Butlerstown just outside Waterford city, and has worked as a national school teacher. As the party’s spokesman on employment affairs, he too has spent his time as a TD to date crafting the party’s employment policies in terms of Covid-19. During the election campaign he described himself as strongly social democratic, and said in any green transition the most vulnerable must be protected. He is viewed in the party as being down to earth and pragmatic.
