O'Gorman says there is no animosity despite how 'Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael contributed to disappointing results' for Green Party

Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman, said in his interview: 'I don’t have animosity per se… It’s very clear that, to me, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael contributed to the disappointing results that we have.' Picture: Naoise Culhane

Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman has said there is no animosity towards the leaders of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, despite the two parties contributing to its poor election result.

Mr O’Gorman has said that a narrative was built in recent years that the Green Party cost the public money, which saw it lose support.

The party is preparing to host its first annual convention since its election shellacking, which saw it lose 11 of 12 seats – with Mr O’Gorman being its sole representative in the Dáil.

In an interview with the Irish Examiner, Mr O’Gorman claimed the narrative came from backbenchers of the two larger parties.

He said that during canvasses, people would raise it on the doors but were unable to cite specifics of where the Green Party cost them.

“I would say, ‘look, I’ve cut your kids childcare costs. Eamon [Ryan] has cut your student’s public transport cost’,” Mr O’Gorman said.

I could cite all the things we’ve done. We were part of a government that cut taxes over five years, but it’s just that narrative was out there. 

He also said signals from both the Taoiseach and Tánaiste to the Labour Party, setting it up as a preferred coalition partner, did not help the Greens on transfers.

“We didn’t, as a party, get many Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael transfers at all,” Mr O’Gorman said.

Mr O’Gorman pushed back on assertions that there had been a “falling out” with both Taoiseach Simon Harris and Tánaiste Micheál Martin, saying instead that it was just politics.

“We went into this with our eyes open. We knew we were dealing with parties that didn’t agree with all our agenda and were implementing things they didn’t want to implement because we had the balance of power.

I don’t have animosity per se… It’s very clear that, to me, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael contributed to the disappointing results that we have.

The Green Party leader also warned an incoming coalition about failing to meet climate targets set out in European law.

A recent Irish Fiscal Advisory Council report has estimated that fines could rise as high as €20bn, while the Climate Change Advisory Council has previously said they could hit €8bn.

Mr O’Gorman said that there is no “great enthusiasm” from within Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael for climate measures, and that some of the Regional Independents are “on the record” being climate critical.

However, he said that he hoped the government would be “pragmatic” on climate, due to the risk of massive fines from the European Union for failing to meet targets that are set out.

I do think that this notion that is put about sometimes that Europe won’t follow up on those fines - that’s absolutely delusional.

“Europe absolutely will, in the same way they follow up on fines for every breached court case over the years. I would hope pragmatism will at least win out,”  Mr O'Gorman said.

However, he said that some politicians have been “dogmatic” about climate issues in the past and that he was worried that their aversion to tackling the climate crisis would outweigh the financial need to do so.

Mr O’Gorman said that while 2030 targets will be difficult to achieve, there is momentum. However, he said that this could be lost if new ministers that are either uninterested or “hostile” to climate action.

“There will be an environmental consequence to that, but there will be a big financial consequence to us in terms of fines which could very quickly eat up the surpluses that are predicted into the next couple of years.”