Two more councillors leave Greens claiming party's 'nowhere to be seen in government'
The resignations come as the party was mired in controversy last year after a number of high-profile members left over a "toxicity" within the membership as well as an alleged drift from party policies.
Two further Green Party councillors have left the party.
Ballyfermot-Drimnagh Cllr Sophie Nicoullaud and Tallaght Cllr Liam Sinclair have both told the Green Party they were rescinding their membership.
The resignations come as the party was mired in controversy last year after a number of high-profile members left over a "toxicity" within the membership as well as an alleged drift from party policies.
Cllr Nicoullaud, originally from France, has been a member of the Green Party since 2009 and canvassed with John Gormley when the Greens left the government at the time.
She was elected Councillor in the 2019 local election in Ballyfermot Drimnaghand and is the third Green councillor to resign after Tallaght Central Cllr Liam Sinclair resigned from the party on January 13, and Cork Councillor Lorna Bogue, last year.
Cllr Nicoullaud and Cllr Sinclair were both against entering the coalition government with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael but said they accepted the members vote at the time.
“I voted for Catherine Martin and I was hoping Eamon would have given his turn to lead the party to Catherine after he had that position for years: It would have been a progressive gesture," Cllr Nicoullaud said.
"I am disappointed Catherine is not doing any review of the Greens in Government as she said she would. I regret certain members of the party are still driving the party in their direction and not moving on to adapt to new world circumstances.
"I cannot be part of a government who didn't ban co-living on its first day in office. The Green Party is nowhere to be seen in this government but only the reflection of the two majority parties in this coalition."
Cllr Nicoullaud will now take her seat as an Independent councillor on Dublin City Council and says that the party General Secretary and the deputy leader, Catherine Martin, both called her after she informed the party she was leaving.
"To be honest, I am sad to have to leave a Green Party but this Green Party is not representative of what a Green Party should be, pushing for CETA vote, a policy on the environment far from ambitious and protecting the private sector," she said.
Cllr Liam Sinclair said he felt forced to leave as his constituents were not being looked out for in government.
"I'm based in Tallaght, the message we received on the doors weren't the ones included in the PFG and there was nothing in it that I reckoned would help working people.
"I gave it a chance, but I see no intention from the government to work harder to make their lives better, I decided now rather than argue with people, to leave.
"The attitude within certain people in the party is that they view dissenting voices as saboteurs, I didn't want to be involved in that, any dissent is greeted with bafflement rather than with engagement."
Cllr Sinclair will sit on South Dublin County Council as an independent.
