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TRIBUTES TO EAMON Ryan, who today announced he is stepping down as Green Party leader, have been paid by politicians and activists alike.
In the political sphere, he’s already being remembered for his policy successes with the Green Party. Ryan won’t step down as Environment or Transport Minister, or as a TD – at least not until the next general election.
The announcement came 24 hours after the Nature Restoration Law was signed off on at EU level.
The Minister had fought hard for the divisive legislation that aims to protect and restore degraded ecosystems.
Green MEP Grace O’Sullivan commended Ryan for never losing sight of the “bigger picture”.
I want to thank @EamonRyan for his service, his leadership, and friendship over the years, and wish him well for whatever comes next. He has been a leader through good times, and tough times, never losing sight of the bigger picture - and achieving considerable policy success. pic.twitter.com/Tpy5FYuqBI
— Grace O'Sullivan MEP (@GraceOSllvn) June 18, 2024
Michael Pidgeon, a Green Party councillor in Dublin, said Ryan is “a champ” who worked hard to get the party back on its feet after the 2011 general election.
Certainly, Ryan’s career with the party hasn’t been without its challenges.
The Greens had their first go in government in coalition with Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats after the 2007 general election. But in 2011, they were wiped out, and Ryan inherited a party once again without any Oireachtas representation.
In 2016, Ryan won a seat in Dublin Bay South and then led the party to the 2020 general election, where it achieved its best result ever.
The same can’t be said for the most recent local and European elections, where the Green Party lost both its MEPs and went from 49 council seats to just 23.
Eamon Ryan is the best. A man of intelligence, kindness, ability and patience.
— Michael Pidgeon (@Pidge) June 18, 2024
I can't think of a politician with more impact than him in recent years.
When people wrote the Greens off in 2011, he gave his all to get us back. A champ.
Thank you @EamonRyan pic.twitter.com/bHv0ngEZc3
Following Ryan’s shock departure, Taoiseach Simon Harris came out to say he respects and understands the decision.
He described Ryan as a politician of “enormous standing” and an “inherently decent person”.
Tánaiste Michéal Martin also had a warm tribute for Ryan, saying he made an “enormous” contribution to Irish politics.
Labour leader Ivana Bacik expressed her “heartfelt good wishes” to the minister.
Wind Energy Ireland, a representative body, said Ryan used his leadership to lay the foundations for radical change in our energy systems and a revision of our reliance on fossil fuels.
“After more than 20 years of talking about developing offshore wind energy it was during his time in office that Ireland ran our first auctions for offshore wind and our first new projects in a generation have entered the planning system,” it said in a statement.
More praise came from Aidan Regan of UCD’s School of Politics and International Relations, who was complimentary of Ryan’s fearlessness when challenging the status quo. He said Ryan will be remembered positively in the history books.
Meanwhile, climate activist and journalist John Gibbons lauded Ryan as “one of brightest, most hard working yet relentlessly maligned Irish politicians of modern era”.
Eamon's announcement that he's stepping down as leader of our party is a huge day for us all. I'm so grateful to him for all that he's done, for his leadership of the party, for his commitment to advancing climate action and nature restoration 💚🌍 n pic.twitter.com/hbvdx2mf1g
— Roderic O’Gorman TD (@rodericogorman) June 18, 2024
Online, people have also taken the opportunity to highlight some of Ryan’s most memorable moments, such as in 2020 when he fell asleep during a vote on legislation about lower-paid jobs.
It took place in the convention centre, where the Dáil was sitting during the pandemic to allow for social distancing.
Ryan later said he regretted the poorly-timed nap.
Of course the question now is: Who will replace Ryan as party leader?
It’s only been a few hours but the party’s deputy leader Media Minister Catherine Martin has ruled herself out of the race, also announcing that she will step down as number two.
Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman and Senator Pauline O’Reilly may throw their hats in the ring as senior members of the party. Both posted their own tributes to Ryan.
Today Ryan also confirmed he would not contest the next general election.
There are multiple Green councillors in the Dublin Bay South area that may seek to fill his seat.
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Liability to progressive development over his tenure in Government. Good riddance.
@Frank Heffernan: yawn. When you wake up you’re going to find you have been asleep
@Alan: Like Eamon is it ?
@Alan: Eamon Ryan certainly liked to sleep
@Frank Heffernan:
Getting ready for a run at Presidency next year.
History will be kind to Ryan. He’ll be vindicated.
@Jimmy Wallace: Couldn’t agree more.
@Jimmy Wallace: What are you waffling on about the Gript Media Facebook comments for ? Pitiful effort to smear a media organisation you clearly despise. Like trying to attribute comments here in this cesspit to The Journal.
Gript media were effusive in their praise of him.. https://gript.ie/eamon-ryan-is-retiring-in-triumph-his-opponents-should-learn-from-him/
@honey badger: no he won’t. He couldn’t even bring in a scheme to recycle plastic bottles and cans successfully.. cost of electricity is crazy. He granted more data centers and wouldn’t even apply for free money to Generate electricity from farms. A disaster who made everyone poorer
@Washpenrebel: The Data Center scandal will eventually be exposed & made public, a lot of high profile names in politics & IDA will eventually get exposed. Energy companies making mega profits, we will eventually see who has investments & shares in certain companies, that our bills are subsidizing.
@Jimmy Wallace: Some credit..? lol .. give over. You’ll struggle to find an article across any media organisation that heaps as much praise on him.. yet you draw attention to the comments section in a pitiful attempt to conflate the two. You’re clearly obsessed with them.. and it was/is obviously meant to smear the site in general..why didn’t you reference any of the dozens of disgusting comments about him on the Journal or any other outlet..? Doesn’t suit your agenda..
@Jimmy Wallace: Tell me you don’t have an agenda re Gript media without telling me you don’t have an agenda re Gript media..lol. I read all the comments on their website article and its all the same bs as you got on here. Can you paste one comment from their actual website that would be deleted here.. ? you had to go to FB to find something to moan about.. Can you acknowledge that Gript media share your opinion on Ryan.. and are not responsible for morons posting comments on FB ?
@honey badger: No no he wont no matter how much the usual mob on here who will say they arent supporters of the government but are wanna cry about it.
@Jimmy Wallace: It’s unfortunate that the Greens found themselves in the position they’re now in and likely to face, they weren’t ready for leadership and severely lacked the level of ideas and implementation required to provide a future for the Irish people. Politicians consider themselves ‘legislators’ over anything else, pretty much amend society with ‘laws’, it would have worked a lot better in tandem with infrastructure where we are in a crisis. Also he’s been hung out to dry with the appointment of Transport Minister where he has been effectively useless, it’s an area where a lot of people are deeply unhappy with how they’ve been screwed over by ‘legislative’ politics. It will continue as long as they sit on their hands and do nothing to improve peoples lives, as an ex Green voter I believe you can achieve improvement (at least) AND engage the marketplace with Green investment. They will go back underground after the next election but will hopefully come back stronger for it.
Actually I forgot he and those others became pro CETA / quiet on TTIP after getting into government. Very little achieved, except bike lines many of them unnecessary and obstructive. It’s a little bit of a consolation after Martin, son of thatcher Varadkar in power that someone like Eamonn Ryan was never Taoiseach. What a car crash that would have been ;) ;)
I can’t help thinking this is a decoy to deflect from the vote on the EU immigration pact, the Dail was voting today, anyone know the outcome?
Ryan is off to greener pastures. My money is on Roderick to emerge victorious
@Irish Axe: Deckchairs on the Titanic!
It’s amazing how many of the posters here have swallowed the agribusiness lobby blaming Eamo for just about everything . Is it possible that the posts are really from the agribusiness lobby themselves? Do the Journal police the posters to ensure that they are real people?
@Padraig O’Brien: Laughable attempt at deflection. Ordinary working people expressing their views & their contempt for a party & it’s leader, that did nothing for working people in Ireland, other than put further costs on to stretched households. As someone who likes to do my bit for the environment & biodiversity, the Greens led by Ryan failed to bring people with them & actually put industry above environment & biodiversity. Their inability to penalise or even criticize the Aviation, Cement Production & Data Centers industry, proved this. Their Hypocrisy in relation to Air travel by Ryan & Catherine Martin, flying Business Class with large entourages, proved that they were a do as I say, not as I do party. They deserve every single boy of criticism.
@Padraig O’Brien: nah there from disenfranchised farmers that have lost income and cap payments because of people blaming them for all environmental issues. Not once did the green party ask where human waste goes …… alot has leaked into our water ways …..driving up nitrates in water…. rte plus gov kept it nice and quiet. I want a good environment and a livable climate too. But if you took Ireland off the map the world would still have climate change …… zero difference. But now Brazil will be selling us food …… food superpower. And we’ll have wet lands with lots of nature and no ability to grow food
@Padraig O’Brien: Its amazing how ya wanna paint him as some sort of poor soul or great guy, remind me when he was flying business class with martin and their green goblins on those paddys week junkets and posing for pics, did it not occur to him and his 10 advisors that he would look like a hypocrite then telling people at home to fly less or use their car less. How about declaring war on turf, closing briquette places here while having it shipped over from europe, again does the greens think these come on magic carpets. Heaped extra charges on fuel while literally couldnt even help provide a safe or any kind of public transport either in major cities or rural ireland
@Padraig O’Brien: Are you a real person?
One of the magnificent astronomical events happens in the next few days as the North Pole turns to its furthest point from the planet’s divisor (the line separating light and dark hemispheres). It creates the greatest circumference, called the Arctic Circle, where the Sun remains constantly in view.
We can see the glow of that great circumference throughout the few hours of darkness to the North as a constant twilight at our latitude.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgfVRSvpzMg
All this has been lost to scientific method modellers and their fuss, along with their ideological supporters
In contrast, the scientific method modellers present a junk explanation for the Solstice as though it was sane. These are the people who give the world climate change modelling and conclusions.
The Sun moving up and down in right ascension against the Earth’s daily rotational equator is nothing short of vomit-inducing and not the sign of reasonable people. They even manipulate the planet’s divisor on Earth with a zero-degree inclination to follow the clockwork solar system insanity.
https://astro.dur.ac.uk/~ams/users/solar_year.gif
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210922.html
This low point in human history is meant to have passed, but the individuals and structures are not in place to rebuild solar system and Earth science research from the taxpayer-funded academic ponzi scheme.
In 100 years of the Irish Republic, I don’t think there is an other single person who has done more harm to his country
Regardless of your politics , ER brings integrity to politics
What I don’t understand is the policy of running cycle lanes alongside cars, lorries , buses, rather than through housing estates and back roads like other cities , and good walking routes too
Finally. One less.
Next up, Syd from ice age.
Fine Gale are going to be whipped in the next GE.
have your say