2011 Elections
The party suffered a wipeout at the 2011 general election in the Republic, with all of its six TDs losing their seats, including those of former Ministers John Gormley and Eamon Ryan. Three out of their six incumbent TDs lost their deposits. The party's share of the vote fell below 2%, meaning that they could not reclaim election expenses, and their lack of parliamentary representation led to the ending of state funding for the party. This financial crisis makes it likely that the Greens will be forced to close their Dublin office and make "some if not all" of their staff redundant.
The candidates in the 2011 Seanad election were Dan Boyle and Niall Ó Brolcháin, but neither were elected, and as a result for the first time since 1989, the Greens have no representatives in the Oireachtas.
Eamon Ryan was elected as party leader on 27 May 2011, succeeding John Gormley. Catherine Martin, a former Carrickmacross town councillor, was later appointed deputy leader, while Ciaran Cuffe and Mark Dearey were also placed on the party's front bench.
Read more about this topic: Green Party (Ireland)
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“Apparently, a democracy is a place where numerous elections are held at great cost without issues and with interchangeable candidates.”
—Gore Vidal (b. 1925)