Editing Green Party (Ireland) (section)

==Ideology and policies==
The Green Party has seven "founding principles", which are:
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* 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.greenparty.ie/about/mission-principles |title=About us |website=greenparty.ie |access-date=27 March 2020 |archive-date=28 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200328145204/https://www.greenparty.ie/About/ |url-status=live }}</ref>}} Broadly, these founding principles reflect the "four pillars" of [[green politics]] observed by the majority of Green Parties internationally: [[ecological wisdom]], [[social justice]], [[grassroots democracy]], and [[nonviolence]]. They also reflect the six guiding principles of the [[Global Greens]], which also includes a respect for diversity as a principle.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.globalgreens.org/globalcharter|title=Global Greens Charter|date=15 December 2007|work=globalgreens.org|access-date=15 October 2016|archive-date=14 May 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080514172856/http://www.globalgreens.org/globalcharter|url-status=live}}</ref>

While strongly associated with [[environmentalism|environmentalist]] policies, the party also has policies covering all other key areas. These include protection of the [[Irish language]],<ref>{{Cite website |last= |date=July 2015 |title=Green Party Irish Language Policy |url=https://greenparty.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Green-Party-Irish-Language-Policy-in-English.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170806183422/https://greenparty.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Green-Party-Irish-Language-Policy-in-English.pdf |archive-date=6 August 2017 |access-date=19 June 2017 |website=greenparty.ie}}</ref> lowering the [[Voting age|voting age in Ireland to 16]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 2023 |title=Political Reform |url=https://www.greenparty.ie/sites/default/files/2023-08/Political%20Reform%20Policy.pdf |access-date=15 April 2025 |publisher=[[Green Party (Ireland)|Green Party]] |page=8}}</ref> and support for [[Universal health care|universal healthcare]].<ref>[https://greenparty.ie/policies/health/ Health] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180528131851/https://greenparty.ie/policies/health/ |date=28 May 2018 }}. Accessed via Green Party (Ireland) (official website). Retrieved 26 May 2018.</ref> The party also advocates that terminally ill people should have the right to legally choose [[Assisted suicide|assisted dying]], stating "provisions should apply only to those with a terminal illness which is likely to result in death within six months". It also states that "such a right would only apply where the person has a clear and settled intention to end their own life which is proved by making, and signing, a written declaration to that effect. Such a declaration must be countersigned by two qualified doctors".<ref>{{Cite web |date=30 April 2020 |title=Green Party Assisted Dying Policy |url=https://www.greenparty.ie/sites/default/files/2022-01/Green%20Party%20Assisted%20Dying%20Policy.pdf |access-date=15 April 2025 |publisher=Green Party |page=6}}</ref>

===Internal factions===
[[File:Neasa Hourigan 2020.jpg|thumb|200px|right|[[Neasa Hourigan]] was a founding member of the Just Transition Greens]]
As other like-minded [[green parties]], it has [[Eco-socialism|eco-socialist]]/[[green left]] and more moderate factions. In parallel to other Green Parties in Europe, the 1980s and 1990s saw a division within the Irish Green Party between two factions; the "Realists" (nicknamed the "Realos") and the "Fundamentalists (nicknamed the "Fundies").<ref>{{cite news |last=McGee |first=Harry |date=1 June 2019 |title=Green Party faces three key challenges in wake of election success |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/green-party-faces-three-key-challenges-in-wake-of-election-success-1.3910823 |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |access-date=4 October 2020 |archive-date=2 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190902081120/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/green-party-faces-three-key-challenges-in-wake-of-election-success-1.3910823 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=McGee |first=Harry |date=2 October 2020 |title=Greens need to start making mark before party divisions resurface |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/greens-need-to-start-making-mark-before-party-divisions-resurface-1.4369739 |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |access-date=4 October 2020 |archive-date=22 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201122171518/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/greens-need-to-start-making-mark-before-party-divisions-resurface-1.4369739 |url-status=live }}</ref> The 'Realists' advocated taking a pragmatic approach to politics, which would mean having to accept some compromises on policy in order to get party members elected and into government in order to enact change. The 'Fundamentalists' advocated more radical policies and rejected appeals for pragmatism, citing that the looming effects of Climate Change would leave no time for compromise. Following a national convention in 1998 which saw a realist majority of members defeat a minority of fundamentalist members on a number of votes, and the party subsequently enter government for the first time in 2007, the factionalism of the 'Realists vs the Fundamentalists' was seen to have wilted away with the 'Realists' becoming the ascendent faction. However, in some respects, the division only laid dormant.<ref>{{cite news |last=MeGee |first=Harry |date=10 October 2009 |title=Fundamentalists and realists give way to group close to Ministers and anti-Nama hardliners |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/fundamentalists-and-realists-give-way-to-group-close-to-ministers-and-anti-nama-hardliners-1.754227 |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |access-date=4 October 2020 |archive-date=23 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210923004950/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/fundamentalists-and-realists-give-way-to-group-close-to-ministers-and-anti-nama-hardliners-1.754227 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Following the [[2019 Irish local elections|2019 local elections]] and the [[2020 Irish general election|2020 general election]], the party had more elected representatives than ever before as well as its highest ever membership.<ref name="Membership number tweet">{{cite tweet|number=1304441870295195648|title=With a growing parliamentary team and a membership that's surged from 400 to almost 5000, the Green Party is at a pivotal moment, and it's vital we hear from you, our members. Join us online on Sept 19th to chart the next course in our party's development. https://bit.ly/3mapyK5|author=Green Party Ireland|user=greenparty_ie|date=11 September 2020}}</ref> On 22 July 2020, several prominent members of the party formed the "Just Transition Greens", an affiliate group within the party with a green left/eco-socialist outlook, who have the objective of moving the party towards policies based on the concept of a "[[Just transition|Just Transition]]".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://villagemagazine.ie/just-transition/ |title=Just Transiti ON |last=McGibbon |first=Adam |date=3 August 2020 |publisher=[[Village (magazine)|Village]] |access-date=4 October 2020 |archive-date=30 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930184640/https://villagemagazine.ie/just-transition/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://villagemagazine.ie/just-transition-are-left-insurgents-in-the-green-party-aiming-higher-than-internal-opposition/ |title=Just Transition are Left insurgents in the Green Party aiming higher than 'internal opposition' |last=Rafferty |first=Michael |date=6 August 2020 |publisher=[[Village (magazine)|Village]] |access-date=4 October 2020 |archive-date=5 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201005121425/https://villagemagazine.ie/just-transition-are-left-insurgents-in-the-green-party-aiming-higher-than-internal-opposition/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=3 August 2020 |title=Cllr Lorna Bogue on the Just Transition Greens |url=https://greennews.ie/lorna-bogue-jt-greens-interview-feature/ |access-date=4 October 2020 |archive-date=2 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201002212927/https://greennews.ie/lorna-bogue-jt-greens-interview-feature/ |url-status=live }}</ref> During the 2020 Green Party leadership election, a significant aspect of the candidacy of Catherine Martin was that it was suggested that Martin could better represent the views of these individuals within the party than the incumbent Eamon Ryan.<ref name="Leahy">{{cite news |last=Leahy |first=Pat |date=26 June 2020 |title=Pat Leahy: Spectacular vindication for Eamon Ryan who coaxed and beseeched party over the line |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/pat-leahy-spectacular-vindication-for-eamon-ryan-who-coaxed-and-beseeched-party-over-the-line-1.4289787 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210922203532/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/pat-leahy-spectacular-vindication-for-eamon-ryan-who-coaxed-and-beseeched-party-over-the-line-1.4289787?mode=sample&auth-failed=1&pw-origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnews%2Fpolitics%2Fpat-leahy-spectacular-vindication-for-eamon-ryan-who-coaxed-and-beseeched-party-over-the-line-1.4289787 |archive-date=22 September 2021 |access-date=28 June 2020 |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=18 June 2020 |title=GREEN PARTY HEAVE |url=https://www.thephoenix.ie/article/green-party-heave/ |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200713113334/https://www.thephoenix.ie/article/green-party-heave/ |archive-date=13 July 2020 |access-date=24 July 2020 |work=The Phoenix}}</ref>