Roderic O’Gorman has this morning been elected as the new leader of the Green Party. He defeated Senator Pippa Hackett by 984 votes to 912 votes with a turnout of over 50 per cent.
The result was announced this morning at a party meeting in Bewley’s on Grafton Street in Dublin, with the Children’s Minister saying he was “honoured” to take up the position.
“I am honoured to have been elected as Leader of the Green Party,” he said. “We are absolutely the stronger for having had this election. I know she [Senator Hackett] cares as deeply about the Party as I do, and I look forward to continuing to work closely with her.”
He thanked Party members for their “support and for their participation in this election.”
The new leader of the Greens told those gathered that the job ahead of him “starts today.”
“We now need to demonstrate to everyone that Green politics an are focused on the challenges of today every bit as much as those of tomorrow,” he said. “Our solutions – on climate, transport, housing, support for families – benefit everyone on this island.”
Mr O’Gorman becomes the fourth leader of the Party. An election for Deputy Leader is set to next place next Saturday.
The electorate was 3,425, with a total of 1,896 votes cast. Mr O’Gorman received 52 per cent of the total vote to Ms Hackett’s 48 per cent – clinching the role by a slim margin. It follows the Party losing both MEP seats in the recent European elections, and the announcement of outgoing Leader Eamon Ryan’s retirement last month.
Mr Ryan, who was present at today’s meeting, announced during a Cabinet meeting last month that he was resigning from the position and as an environment Minister once a successor had been elected. Mr Ryan had led the Greens for the last 13 years, and said his stepping down would allow “a new leader enough time to prepare for the next election – whenever it is.”