Mission and principles

The Green Party is highly democratic, and members make key decisions regarding party policy, candidates for election, and rules on how the party operates

Green Party Councillors at the Local Green Group Think In 2021

We are a collaborative political party, willing to work with all other parties to effect positive change. We stand up for our convictions and ask the right questions, so that big ideas can be progressed and that decisions do not go through on the nod.

Our party is highly democratic, and members make key decisions regarding party policy, candidates for election, and rules on how the party operates. Our Constitution has been developed over 30 years and can be amended annually by members at our Annual Convention. Our party Executive Committee, Treasurer and Trustees are also elected each year at Annual Convention.

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Our goal is to deliver a just transition, which protects our natural world and brings a fairer economic model for everyone. The future role for the Green Party is to help with the practical measures that deliver this transition.

The Green movement was born when we looked back on our planet for the first time and realised the threat we posed to our own natural world. Our Party has always recognised the need for thinking globally, while acting locally.

The movement found political form in the late 1970s and early 1980s as Green parties were set up in just about every country. In Ireland, the Green Party (then known as the Ecology Party of Ireland) was formed in 1981 by a group of people with a vision for an Ireland that planned for the long-term and protected our island’s natural beauty.

Our seven founding principles

The impact of society on the environment should not be ecologically disruptive.

All political, social and economic decisions should be taken at the lowest effective level.

As caretakers of the Earth, we have the responsibility to pass it on in a fit and healthy state.

Society should be guided by self-reliance and co-operation at all levels.

Conservation of resources is vital to a sustainable society.

The need for world peace overrides national and commercial interests.

The poverty of two-thirds of the world’s family demands a redistribution of the world’s resources.