Fighting words as Green Party leaders set their sights on Waterford

The Green Party's focus is now on rallying their members in Waterford for the next local election, according to its leaders.

In a recent visit to Waterford, party leader Roderic O’Gorman and Deputy Leader Councillor Hazel Chu met with the local party at an event held at Grow HQ on the Dunmore Road.

Speaking to the Waterford News and Star, TD Roderic O’Gorman said they are passionate about the impact Green Party councillors can have on local authorities.

“We visited groups all around the country over the summer, and we are asking local groups to get that focus back on 2029.

“We see it as an important step in terms of the regrowth of the party around the country,” said Deputy O’Gorman.

The Green Party do not currently hold a seat on Waterford City and County Council.

They hold just one seat in the Dáil, but it’s not for Waterford.

The party’s Marc O’Cathasaigh lost his seat in Waterford in the 2024 general election.

Deputy leader Hazel Chu said not having that representation makes it harder to push for things like active travel and sustainable policies.

“We were just getting told by the head gardener [at Grow HQ] how important it is in terms of climate and the fact that things didn’t grow without the rain and the weather being warmer.

“So, at this stage with climate change, it is essential to have reps against it,” said Cllr Chu.

When the Waterford News & Star spoke to Mr O’Cathasaigh in November 2024, he told us he felt the party’s message was strong, but they hadn’t communicated it well to the electorate.

We asked Deputy O’Gorman and Cllr Chu what has changed since then.

“What’s changed is that people have seen what government without the Green Party is like,” said Deputy O’Gorman.

They said that since the party left government, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have rolled back policies implemented by the Green Party, including initiatives around climate change and biodiversity.

A significant change, he said, has been the recent announcement of fare hikes for public transport.

“That’s a choice that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have made. 

"They have made a choice not to give money to the national transport authority and put bus and train users across the country, like myself, who use Dublin Bus or someone using a Local Link service here in Waterford...

“Everyone is going to be paying more in a cost-of-living crisis.

“Those are the kind of decisions that just wouldn’t be happening if there was a Green Party in government,” said Deputy O’Gorman.

A common argument made against the Green Party is that going into government with Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil is usually to their detriment.

During the last government, the Greens held 12 seats.

Since 2024, that number has reduced to just one.

But Cllr Chu said that having Green representation in government is needed.

“Some people would go ‘was it not to the detriment of the party’ but a lot of times it’s worth it.

“That is the cost. You are there to govern. You are there to serve the public and implement the policies, especially climate policies because we are in a climate crisis,” said Cllr Chu.

When asked whether they would be willing to form a coalition with Sinn Féin, the biggest opposition party in the country, Deputy O’Gorman said they talk to everyone.

“As a party, we see government as a place where, with the right programme for government, you can change law, you can change policy, you can change where money goes to the benefit of our planet and to the benefit of people as well."

But he went on to say: “There is nowhere safer than sitting on the opposition benches giving out about everything but ultimately achieving nothing.

“I’m in my second term in the Dáil now, and I’ve seen the same opposition politicians who have been droning out the same things for six or seven years and it sounds great, but I don’t know why you would do it if you are not going to use the mandate the people in your constituency have given you to deliver change… I just don’t see the point.” 

Another criticism levelled at the Greens is that they only care about environmental policies, while people are homeless or struggling with the cost of living.

But Deputy O’Gorman and Cllr Chu said that isn’t true either.

They said it was the Green Party that brought in the cost rental, as well as the Tenant in Situ Scheme, the latter which has, of late, been plagued by funding problems and issues around guidelines.

“Once we were out of government, the Government gutted it.

“You would have families on waiting lists who could be prevented from homelessness if the Tenant in Situ Scheme was fully funded to the degree we actually funded it at the time.

“So, when people say ‘oh the Greens don’t think of housing,’ absolutely not, said Cllr Chu.

Deputy O’Gorman said that during the summer he submitted a parliamentary question to the Minister for Housing regarding the Tenant in Situ Scheme and was told it is not a scheme.

“Even in the language, how they name it is moving away from it, so again, it’s an example of something we delivered in government that the new government are walking away,” said Deputy O’Gorman.

We checked that out on the Oireachtas website and can confirm it is true.

In answer to the deputy’s question on Wednesday, July 15, the Minister said: “Tenant in Situ is not a scheme. Rather, it is a policy tool available to local authorities to prevent social housing supported households in the private rented sector from falling into homelessness. It should only be used as a last resort by local authorities when all other options have been exhausted”.

On a local level, Deputy O’Gorman and Cllr Chu said that in Waterford it was Green Party advocacy that led to the development of the new sustainable bridge and train station.

And they would like that development to continue.

“I want to see that representation back on the city and county council but in the long term back in the Dáil for Waterford as well.

“So that is why Hazel and I are here to engage with the members and ask them to start that focus on the 2029 local election so we can see green councillors working for the people of Waterford in 2029 and onwards,” said Deputy O’Gorman.

Funded by the Local Democracy Scheme