Hustings speech, Sunday the 29th of July

I’m delighted to be here today, and to have the opportunity to engage with so many party members from across this island.  At the outset, I’d like to pay tribute to Eamon and Catherine as they step down from their roles within the party. Both have been instrumental in rebuilding the party from the very difficult circumstances of 2011.  We are about a week and a half into this campaign, and in that time, speaking with members has been hugely encouraging.  Despite the difficult results in the Local and European elections, and the uncertainty arising from Eamon and Catherine’s departures, I have found a membership that is confident of our achievements in Government, engaged in the future of the party, and as ever with Green Party members, keen to get stuck into the detailed policy analysis.

That’s good – because we are heading into a crucial year – and we will need everyone involved.  In just a few days’ time, there’ll be a Westminster election fought by GPNI; we’ll then be into the last few months of the Government in Dublin, where we still have crucial priorities to deliver; and then we will be into the next General Election. The stakes could not be higher. I want to set out three reasons that I running for leader. 

First, as I said on Thursday’s hustings, I am not willing to accept defeat or manage decline.  I am running for leader to hold seats and to win seats. It is a simple fact that if we accept being a 4% party; if we retreat to our comfort zone and expect votes to come to us, we will lose Dáil seats. Throughout the local and European elections, I canvassed in my constituency and right around the country. What that told me is that climate is simply not on the agenda the way it was in 2019. I believe, and everyone on this meeting believes, that climate is the issue facing the country and the planet right now. It is existential. That is why climate action and nature protection is hardwired into our party’s DNA. It is a core belief, and has been in the entire 24 years I’ve been in this party. It is why I joined the party. But if we want to win votes, to win seats, to implement policy, we have to meet people where they are at. The public needs to know that we have answers for them, not just on climate, or on biodiversity, but on health, education and housing. 
We have to fight for every vote and every preference. 

Secondly, we have to get ready for that fight, and get the party on an election footing. I’ve run in ten elections; I’ve been on the party’s Electoral Task Force; I’ve been on the Executive and I was party Chair through local elections and national elections. I know what it is to run a campaign, and for the party to go through a campaign. I believe we need to increase our use of data – pay for focus groups, for polling – not so we can change our message, but so we can shape and target it. Getting ready for a campaign also means getting every candidate and every member ready. I know that people – from all parties – struggled to get canvassers out during the local elections. We have to give our candidates and members the confidence to knock on those doors. We need to run training, and start making contact with members, engaging them, encouraging them to get involved.Thirdly, before any election takes place, we have to deliver in these last months of Government. Every single member should be hugely proud of what the party has delivered over the last four years. Shifting Ireland onto a more sustainable path; putting unprecedented resource into biodiversity and public transport; introducing new forms of leave and reducing the cost of childcare. We saw how Eamon used his experience to guide the party through the last four years of Government. Always focused on delivery, not drama.I have been in those Monday night meetings of party leaders, in the Budget meetings with Finance meetings. I know how tough they can be. 

But I know what it is to have a tough job, and to deliver. Halving the cost of childcare; overcoming decades of legal pushback to give adopted people their rights; housing more than 100,000 people fleeing the war in Ukraine. All while being public enemy number one for the far right. So a tough job doesn’t bother me.  I’m asking for your vote as leader because I will work hard every day and night to deliver our party’s policies; I will fight for every vote and every preference; and I will always be accessible and engaged with the core of our party – you, the members.