Green Party taking soundings on govt options
Issued: 27 May 2007
Statement by Trevor Sargent
The Green Partytoday entered a period of reflection on the outcome of the General Election. Party Leader Trevor Sargent TD welcomed the election to the Dáil of Mary White in Carlow-Kilkenny, while he also deeply regretted the loss of Dan Boyle in Cork South Central.
Deputy Sargent said: “With six TDs elected to the 30th Dáil, the Green Party is in a strong position to implement its progressive policy agenda. We have held our representation in Dáil Éireann and increased our vote in extremely difficult circumstances. We experienced the same ‘squeeze’ as other small parties, but unlike Sinn Féin, the PDs, Labour and the Socialists, we managed to maintain our level of representation.
“Our Parliamentary Party has held initial discussions this afternoon and over the next days we will be taking soundings within the party on how to proceed. We want a responsible, stable and effective government and at this stage we are ruling nothing out,” concluded Deputy Sargent.
Election facts and figures:
- Nearly 100,000 people gave the Green Party their first preference vote, a gain of 25,456 votes from the last election (96,936 votes in 2007, compared to 71,470.) This represents an increase of just under one per cent – 4.69 per cent of first preferences in 2007 compared to 3.85 per cent in 2002, and 2.8 per cent in 1997.
- Party Leader Trevor Sargent TD in Dublin North won the most first preference votes of any Green candidate (7,448), while John Gormley TD in Dublin South East won the greatest share of first preference votes (13.8 per cent of total valid votes cast).
- Mary White is the first female TD for both the constituency of Carlow Kilkenny and the Green Party.
High resolution photos from the campaign are available at: www.flickr.com/photos/thegreenparty