Daniel McConnell: Ryan needs to prune back his optimism for Green growth

In his keynote leader’s address, Ryan made two bold pledges. One was that come the next election the Greens will take 10% of the vote and have up to 100 councillors elected across the country.

Party leader Eamon Ryan made the bold promise that by 2025, Ireland could power itself on a sunny day by solar power alone. Picture: Brian Lawless

A political party’s national conference or Ard Fheis as some insist on calling it is always an important marker.

If the party leadership is under pressure, the conference can be fraught with difficulty as they seek to face down dissidents or rebels.