RODERIC O’GORMAN is aiming to rebuild the Green Party from a near wipeout within a single Dáil term, with the next big test of that goal coming in this year’s by-elections.

In an interview with the Press Association, O’Gorman assessed the performance of the government without the Greens, warned the Justice Minister not to “fool” himself, and set benchmarks for rebuilding his party.

He is now more than one year on from the disastrous November 2024 general election which saw the party crash from record high Dáil representation to a single seat – his own.

O’Gorman is not alone in the Oireachtas, with former minister of state Malcolm Noonan elected to the Seanad in early 2025.

The near wipeout was reminiscent of 2011, when the Greens lost all their Dáil seats in the election after being in government during the financial crash – before climbing to a high of 12 seats in 2020.

O’Gorman has experience in the rebuilding process, having been party chairman for almost all of the time between those elections.

He has set out a “challenging” objective for the party, saying: “It took us two terms of the Dáil to rebuild between 2011 and 2020 – I want to do that in one.”

O’Gorman says the party’s recent election performance is “completely different” to 2011, stating that palpable “fury” voters had against the post-crash government was not what was being experienced on the doorsteps last year.

He said: “There was recognition for some of the big set pieces that we’d achieved during our time in government – but we’re all worried about number ones. And I think that very much showed on the day.”

We were behind the Soc Dems, behind Labour in most constituencies. We were never going to pass them out and our transfers helped elect TDs from those two parties.

O’Gorman added: “We’re in an absolute rebuild phase – and we’ve done this before so we know what it’s about.

“But we’re in such a stronger position than we were in 2011 – we’ve got a voice in the Dail and the Seanad, we’ve got some state funding. But I think what’s actually the biggest difference is we’ve got 23 really strong councillors.”

‘Bollocks’

In a tongue-in-cheek comment after the general election, O’Gorman said he told his former government colleagues that he would be a “bollocks” in opposition.

Asked to assess how the new coalition – which features his old partners of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil – is doing, he said the government has fulfilled all his predictions around being scared of tackling issues, retreating from social policy and watering down climate action.

O’Gorman accused his old colleagues of “celebrating the deprioritisation of public transport” and highlighted the postponement of “shovel-ready” projects such as the Finglas Luas and Dart+ South West.

He said he is also trying to spotlight a rolling back of the ban on fracked gas and concerns over emission reductions, adding: “I am worried that the government will have moved us from moving towards success to moving back on to the direction of failure again.

And it’s very deliberate. It’s very targeted. They know what they’re doing and and it seems that they are unbothered by the consequence.

Amid a shake-up of portfolios, O’Gorman’s old responsibility for international protection accommodation as Minister of Integration has been moved under Jim O’Callaghan’s remit at the Department of Justice.

O’Callaghan has introduced a range of stricter measures around international protection since taking office which he said will reduce the number of applications.

However, the Green Party leader has warned him to be careful not to “believe his own spin” as he said the current government actually “caught a break” on international protection numbers.

“Numbers decreased by about a third every month from October of 2024 to just before the general election – and I am worried that Jim O’Callaghan is starting to believe his own spin that his measures caused that reduction. They didn’t.”

O’Gorman said the Government should be focusing on reforms “on the processing side of things” because a future surge will happen due to some unforeseen international crisis.

He said: “We’ll experience it less than other countries but we will experience it, and now is the time to reform the accommodation side – to do what I wasn’t able to do because the numbers were so significant.

Move us away from the reliance on the private sector that’s so expensive and where we don’t have control over where they’re located and the actual quality – and move us to that state model.

He added: “This opportunity, this slight lull that he’s experiencing now could disappear very quickly.”

O’Callaghan has said the number of international protection applicants coming into Ireland is too high.

O’Gorman said he recognises there is a challenge, but said that language incorrectly suggests how much control a politician has – adding that Ireland is “at the mercy of international events”.

He said: “Minister O’Callaghan feels he needs to talk a big game – and there’s internal Fianna Fáil politics going on there – but just don’t fool yourself.”

Plan

O’Gorman is now focused on leading the Greens through the party’s new strategic plan for internal reorganisation, addressing fundraising, improving communications and refocusing electoral efforts.

He said: “All the elements of the strategic plan are going well – and I suppose what we have to do now is demonstrate that in an electoral context.”

The party is running former councillor Niall Murphy in Galway West and O’Gorman expects either councillors Janet Horner or Feljin Jose to be selected in Dublin Central.

Asked what success looks like in the elections, he said: “The first test is raising the vote on where it was in the general election in both constituencies.

“Niall has been very clear he wants to run for re-election to the council in 2029 so I think it’s demonstrating real strength within his local area.”

O’Gorman added: “In Dublin Central, who knows what could happen on a good day for the party?”