FORMER MEP FOR THE Green Party, Ciarán Cuffe, was elected as one of the two chairs of the European Green Party over the weekend. 

Cuffe was an MEP for the party from 2019 to 2024. In June, he and party colleague Grace O’Sullivan lost their seats in a highly competitive European election.

It was the beginning of a bad bout of election outings for the Greens – they underperformed in the simultaneous local elections, and in the recent general election, were decimated as a parliamentary party. 

Speaking to The Journal just prior to his election as co-chair of the European Green Party (EGP), Cuffe said that he had enjoyed being involved in legislation and policy making at a European level.

“I would like to continue with it for the time being,” he said.

Cuffe and Vula Tsetsi, the former secretary general of the Green/EFA political grouping in the European Parliament, were elected at the party’s congress in Dublin.

A statement said the two received “near unanimous support from Green parties across Europe, who supported their vision to take on the extreme right, and to bolster a green and just transition that benefits everyone”.

The duo succeed Mélanie Vogel and Thomas Waitz, who led the EGP through the recent European election campaign.

Speaking after his election, Cuffe said: “We have seen extraordinary progress of green legislation over the last decade, and we want to maintain that momentum in these challenging times.

“We can see the renewable energy revolution spreading across Europe. We want to ensure that green measures continue to deliver benefits for ordinary working people: lower bills, decent housing, and quality jobs.”

He added that war in the Middle East and Ukraine, as well as widespread disinformation, has lead to “dark times for democracy”. 

“The European Greens will continue to shine a light in the darkness, and champion transparency, inclusion, and human rights for all.”

Nationally, Cuffe says that he believes that more work needs to be done to continue the green imperative. The Green Party went from 12 TDs to just one, leader Roderic O’Gorman, in a nail-biting count at the beginning of this month. 

“It is important for the green imperative to continue. It was good to see some parties continue it but Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil seemed to be dropping them as the left for the door,” he told The Journal, adding, for example, that the parties made more references to road expansions in election manifestos rather than having a greater focus on public transport.

“We could’ve used our elbows a bit more,” he said. Cuffe added that he believed the party may have “pigeon holed” themselves while in government and could’ve “claimed ownership” more often on issues such as the cost of living, housing and security – which he says are major topics that are impacting the lives of people in Europe at the minute.

He said that he wants to be a voice for smaller parties, like the Green Party, in Europe – though noted that, unlike in 2011, the Irish entity’s membership is still strong.

Speaking to media on Friday, leader Roderic O’Gorman made similar remarks, claiming that the party may have needed sharper messaging to get across the fact that their policies, such as childcare and retrofitting measures, were core to their political beliefs.

He added that there could’ve been a greater emphasis on the point that the climate measures, which were introduced while the party was in government, will now be in place “forever”.