Eamon Ryan resigns as leader of the Irish Green Party

Irish Green Party leader Eamon Ryan will resign, Irish broadcaster RTÉ reported.

The announcement means Mr Ryan will be the second leader of the Republic’s coalition government to resign this year.

Former taoiseach (prime minister) Leo Varadkar resigns as leader of Fine Gael in April.

Mr Ryan’s decision comes after local and European elections, in which the Green Party lost both MEP seats.

The number of local councilors for the party has also been halved.

Mr. Ryan has been leader of the Green party in Ireland since 2011 and was first elected to the Dáil (Irish parliament) in 2002.

He has been a TD for Dublin Bay South since 2016.

Speaking outside Leinster House on Tuesday, Mr Ryan said he was stepping aside to “pass the torch to a new generation of leaders”.

Despite retaining his role as environment and climate minister, he said the Green Party’s “focus remains on delivering affordable housing, healthcare reform and climate action in the coming months”.

Mr Ryan said he was “proud of what we have achieved” and that he “is a champion on the world stage for climate justice for developing countries”.

He added that he “cannot continue to work long hours as a public representative” and that he has “at-home parenting commitments” that he also wants to fulfill.

Mr Ryan went on to mention that his party had been “relentlessly attacked, especially on social media”.

“It seemed like there were sometimes coordinated attempts to attack in the comments section after any post we made.

“I decided to ignore most of them, even if they included vile words about my recently deceased father.

“I think it poisons the public’s thinking about our agenda, not just about our party,” he said.

He added that he was optimistic about the future despite stressing that one could be “disappointed about the future of our democracy if you only live in a polarized, algorithm-driven online world.” “.

Speaking at the start of Leaders’ Questions in the Dáil this afternoon, taoiseach Simon Harris said Mr Ryan had had a “positive impact on Irish politics”.

“He played an important leadership role in this coalition and I want to acknowledge that,” Mr. Harris said.

The taoiseach assessed Mr. Ryan as an “honest, sincere, dedicated and decent politician”.

“He is a man of substance, a man who has had a positive impact on Irish politics and I completely respect and understand his reasons and I just want to wish him well,” he said more.