Eamon Ryan departure clears the way for an early general election
Eamon Ryan's stepping down makes it a little easier for Simon Harris to decide on the timing of a general election. File photo: Sasko Lazarov / RollingNews.ie
Long the most ardent supporter of a full-term Government, Eamon Ryan's departure blasts open the door for an early general election.
But his exit at the next election, whenever that is called, will be a significant loss to politics despite what many of his detractors might claim.
A blinkered commitment to save the planet has seen Ryan typecast as the bogeyman of farmers, the enemy of motorists, a curse for frequent flyers, and the butt of many jokes.
Throughout this time he has appeared impervious to the sniggering and a relentless campaign of green-bashing.
This was particularly evident when on the day that Simon Harris was appointed Taoiseach, Mattie McGrath chose to make a very specific criticism of the incoming Taoiseach, and it wasn’t about housing, health, or even migration.
“On a point of information, I ask the Taoiseach why he is appointing Deputy Eamon Ryan as Minister for the Environment?” McGrath asked.
"He has destroyed rural Ireland, farming and everything else and it is time he was moved out of there. The Taoiseach had an opportunity.”
The opportunistic intervention from McGrath is typical of attacks Ryan has faced, both inside and outside the Dáil, purely for standing up for what he believes in and for progressing a Green agenda.
Of course, he hasn't helped himself with now infamous suggestions of growing lettuce on windowsills and bringing back the wolf to Ireland.
But it is this style of politics that we need more of, the type of commitment that resists rising to the bait of those who cynically trot out the populist line.
The type of politics that ignores the heckles from climate-denying politicians or the cat-calls from airline chiefs.
It is exactly this style of politics that has led Ryan to consistently stress the need for a stable, mature Government that doesn't simply cut early because it might save them a seat or two.
While the three coalition parties have, at least publicly, maintained that this Government should see out its full term, in the background the Greens are really the only ones to truly believe this.
Ryan in particular has been adamant that the best thing for the country is to stay on until the bitter end.
Privately, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael ministers and backbenchers have been far less enthusiastic about slogging it out as a three-stool Government until March of next year.
How the coalition might devise a plan to get them out of the full-term and call it quits early has been a topic of discussion around Leinster House, especially since the recent local and European elections.
There are always a number of considerations that a Taoiseach must weigh up before heading to the polls.
The views of coalition partners do factor, but as Enda Kenny learned back in 2016, giving too much of a listening ear to the smaller party in any coalition, is not always the best approach.
After the news of Mr Ryan's departure broke, one senior Fine Gael source almost laughed off a suggestion that the outgoing Green leader would have had a significant say when it comes to the timing of an election.
"In fairness, Simon was always going to make his own decision," the source bluntly said.
Regardless, Eamon Ryan's stepping down makes that decision a little easier.
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