Marc Ó Cathasaigh selected to contest General Election for Green Party
Minister Roderic O'Gorman and Deputy Marc Ó Cathsaigh at the Granville Hotel.
TD Marc Ó'Cathasaigh has been formally selected to contest the General Election for the Green Party in Waterford.
Green Party Leader and Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth Roderic O'Gorman came to Waterford to support Deputy Ó Cathasaigh.
The event, held in the Granville Hotel, brought together local Green Party members, as well as Green Party TD Malcolm Noonan and former councillor Cristíona Kiely.
Prior to the event, Minister O'Gorman and Deputy Ó Cathasaigh met with the new Chief Executive of Waterford City and County Council Sean McKeown and visited Waterford Chamber.
Mr O'Gorman told the Waterford News & Star: "We spoke about issues like SETU (South East Technological University), Waterford Airport and Waterford Port as well."
He continued: "We're just back from the Top of the City Community Gardens where we had a view of what the volunteers are doing there and the amazing work they have been doing over the last number of years."
Minister O'Gorman was elected leader for the Green Party after Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan stepped down shortly after the local elections in June 2024.
It has been a tough year for the Green Party in Waterford.
The local elections saw two Green Party Councillors (Cristíona Kiely and Jody Power) lose their seats in Waterford. The European Parliament elections saw former MEP Grace O'Sullivan lose her seat for Ireland South.
Minister O'Gorman said: "I think we are strong in terms of our membership, we've got a really strong membership here, over 100 members. I think when Mark started off about nine years ago, there were about five or six so it has really grown.
"The local elections were disappointing in terms of losing two fantastic councillors on the City and County Council, and obviously Grace narrowly missing out in terms of holding the MEP seat as well."
He continued: "Local elections and general elections are different beasts, and I think when the election is held, and it'll be held soon, there will be a very clear question in front of the people in terms of what's going to happen next, but what has happened over the last four years."
Minister O'Gorman then spoke on the Green Party agenda, saying: "We went into the 2020 general election with a manifesto, and we have delivered on it, whether it's in climate, whether it's in transport, whether it's in making childcare more affordable for parents, every key area that we set out in our manifesto, we negotiated that into the program for government, and we've delivered on it.
"When it comes to, particularly, the advancement of progressive politics here in Ireland, the ability to actually take the risk of going into government is a risk for a small party, and we saw some of the consequences of that risk in the recent local elections.
"But that risk is about delivering. It's about changing policies. From a very green perspective, the fact that we are now seeing 7% reductions in our emissions in 2020; everyone said that couldn't happen. It is happening because of actions the Green Party has taken."
The ongoing saga of Waterford Airport was raised with the Minister. His predecessor Eamon Ryan did little to ingratiate himself with Waterford people and public bodies concerned with the development of the airport.
At the local elections in June, former Metropolitan Mayor of Waterford, Jody Power, cited Minister Ryan's lack of engagement on the airport as a contributing factor to the Green Party's result in Waterford.
Minster O'Gorman said: "I know a business case has been submitted in terms of the level of funding, which I think is about €12 million, being sought directly from the State, now over the course of last number of months the Department of Transport have come back with a number of queries in terms of just understanding full value for money.
"The key thing is we need an answer, we need a resolution."
Deputy Ó Cathasaigh was eager to get back into the swing of the election cycle, especially after a bruising few months for the party.
He said: "I think I've a strong track record since I was first elected in 2020 but you can't take that for granted. You can't take either the support of the wider voter base or of your own members for granted. So I think having this selection convention was very welcome.
"It gave me the opportunity to get back in touch with my membership base here, which, as Roderic said, has really increased since 2015. We're ready to fight the next election."
Deputy Ó Cathasaigh was a primary school teacher in Tramore when he was first elected to the Dáil in 2020.
He said: "In 2020, I had been eight months a councillor, I was still in the classroom, I was absolutely wet behind the ears.
"Now I'm a candidate who helps negotiate a program for Government, I've had four and a half years in in terms of representing this constituency in Dáil Éireann, and so I'm going to be proud to go back to the people and say, 'You trusted me with your vote the last time, I believe I've delivered for Waterford. Here is the track record, and I'm asking for your vote again'."
