Catherine Martin rules out Green Party leadership bid as Eamon Ryan steps down

By George Lithgow, PA

Eamon Ryan has announced he is stepping down as leader of the Green Party.

It is time to “pass the torch to a new generation of leaders”, he said during an emotional speech.

The Minister for the Environment made the announcement at a press conference following a Cabinet meeting in Dublin.

His party is one of the three government coalition partners, and suffered a poor performance at the local and European elections earlier this month, which saw the Green Party lose both MEP seats.

The decision comes amid speculation of a potential early election in the autumn.

The Minister, who has led the party since 2011, said it had been an “honour” to serve.

Mr Ryan confirmed he would not be standing in the next general election.

Speaking outside Leinster House, he said: “I’ve spent the last 30 years either running for or holding public office.

“It’s been an absolute privilege, and I want to thank the electorate who voted for me on eight different occasions over those years, giving me the opportunity to serve our city and our country to the best of my ability.

“I’m stepping down to pass the torch to a new generation of leaders, confident in the strength and values I’ve seen built up in our party over all these years.

“I will continue as party leader and in my ministerial roles until a new leader is appointed, and look forward to fulfilling whatever role a new leader assigns me for the remaining terms of this government.”

Catherine Martin has announced she is to “step back” as deputy leader of the Green Party.

Ms Martin also said she would not currently be coming forward to replace Eamon Ryan as leader of the party.

In a statement, she said: “At this point in time, I will not be putting myself forward for the leadership contest.

“I will also step back as deputy leader.

“I look forward to supporting the new leadership of the party.

“We are fortunate to have such an extremely talented party membership.”

The Green Party’s Grace O’Sullivan and Ciarán Cuffe missed out on a return to Brussels in the recent election, and the party lost half its seats on local councils.

Government coalition parties Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael had positive elections, while the results of main opposition party Sinn Féin fell below expectations.

The results fuelled speculation that the Government may look to call a general election earlier than the current projected timeline of spring 2025.

Ryan, 60, is the second coalition leader to resign this year.

In April, Leo Varadkar stepped down as Taoiseach and leader of the Fine Gael party.

His announcement came after a turbulent number of weeks for the Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Green Party three-party coalition Government.