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THE GREEN PARTY has voted against establishing two co-leader positions by a narrow margin at today’s party online convention.
Members voted against a motion that would have installed two co-leaders of the Green Party in place of a leader and a vice president.
Had the motion passed, it would also have stipulated that the two co-leaders would have to be of different genders.
The motion fell by just four votes.
120 members voted against the motion, 116 voted in favor and 16 more abstained.
In proposing the motion, MEP Grace O’Sullivan said that two co-leaders of different genders would send a message of “progressive unity” and would be “in the best interest of the party going forward.”
O’Sullivan said the Green Party “stands for equality and equal rights” and that if members had voted to have Eamon Ryan and Catherine Martin as co-leaders in the party’s recent leadership election, it would have been the ” dream Team”.
“It is time for the Green Party in Ireland to have joint leadership with a male and female leader,” O’Sullivan said.
The motion was to amend article 5.7.1 of the party constitution to read: “The party will have shared Co-Leaders of different genders. The co-leaders will be chosen by preference through a national vote of members. “
“Once a candidate for Co-Leader has been deemed elected, the remaining candidate (s) of that gender will be eliminated. The votes will be distributed to the remaining candidates for the position of Co-Leader ”.
“The Executive Committee will determine the procedure for the nomination and election of the candidates for party leader.”
Speakers who opposed the motion expressed concern about the effectiveness of a co-leadership model and the benefits of the public being able to identify a clear party leader.
A proposed amendment to the motion, which would have put it into effect before waiting for the next leadership election, also failed.
122 voted against the amendment, 99 voted in favor and 23 abstained.
Earlier today, the Green Party voted to allow meetings to be held in whole or in part by phone or online amid increasing reliance on technology across the country to hold meetings during Covid-19.
However, one motion fell to limit the number of ordinary members of the executive committee from any region to four.
The motion, which did not pass, would have meant that of the ten members elected at an annual convention, there could be no more than four residents in one of the five specific areas.
The areas are Dublin; the rest of Leinster; Munster; Connacht, Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan; and Northern Ireland.
Earlier today, Green Party health spokesperson Neasa Hourigan told members that the government should allocate more funds to mental health, disability services, and maternal care in the wake of Covid-19.
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Hourigan said that Covid-19 has put people under “immense pressure” and called for the budget to demonstrate a “renewed commitment to mental health and mental health financing.”
Party Leader Eamon Ryan and Deputy Party Leader Catherine Martin will address the convention tonight.
Martin is expected to tell members that the party must continue to “fight,” “campaign,” and “agitate” for green change and values.
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