John Gormley
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John Gormley TD
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 14 June 2007 |
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| Preceded by | Dick Roche |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 17 July 2007 |
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| Preceded by | Trevor Sargent |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 6 June 1997 |
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| Constituency | Dublin South East |
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| Born | 4 August 1959 Dublin, Ireland |
| Political party | Green Party |
| Alma mater | University College Dublin, University of Freiburg |
| Website | Official website |
John Gormley (born 4 August 1959) is the leader of the Irish Green Party and the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. He also is a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South East constituency[1] and was previously the party spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Health and Children, as well as serving as chairperson of the party.
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[edit] Early life
Born in Dublin, Gormley was educated in St Munchin's College, Limerick, University College Dublin and University of Freiburg, Germany. Prior to entering full-time politics he ran an academy of European languages. He has held many positions in the Green Party including Campaign Director for the successful anti-smog campaign in the 1980s. He contested his first general election in 1989 winning 3,329 first preferences (10.1%) in the Dublin South East constituency but he was not elected. He unsuccessfully contested the 1989 Seanad election, receiving 1,837 first preferences (7.4%) in the National University of Ireland constituency. In 1990 he wrote The Green Guide For Ireland, containing advice on how to live and campaign environmentally. At the 1992 general election Gormley's was again unsuccessful, his vote fell to 2,476 votes (6.1%).
[edit] Political life
In 1991 he was elected to Dublin City Council and was Lord Mayor of Dublin from 1994–95. At the 1997 general election Gormley became only the third Green candidate to be elected to Dáil Éireann - after a famous week-long re-count with Michael McDowell, which he won by 27 votes. Gormley won 4,296 first preferences (11.7%) in 1997. Gormley and Trevor Sargent served as the two only Green Party TDs from 1997–2002. He retained his seat at the 2002 general election, increasing his vote substantially to 5,264 (16.2%) and this time taking the first seat in his constituency, although McDowell gained the most number of first preferences.
He was elected to the newly created post of party Cathaoirleach (chairperson) in 2002, and re-elected in late 2004 with 80% of the party vote. He is seen by many as the most influential figure within the Green Party, having proposed some of the major changes to the party structures such as the name change (from Green Alliance to Green Party) and the need to have a party leader.
On 16 May 2007, during the run up to the 2007 general election, Gormley emerged from a crowd of journalists to confront Michael McDowell while he was unveiling a poster saying 'Left Wing Government? No Thanks'. Gormley repeatedly requested McDowell to admit that the accompanying pamphlet on the matter was awash with lies. The incident fronted the evening's main news and the footage subsequently circulated on the Internet.[2]
Gormley was re-elected at the 2007 general election, ironically beating McDowell for the last seat by 304 votes.[3] As part of a national squeeze against smaller parties, Gormley's vote fell slightly to 4,685 first preference votes (13.8%). Following the election he led negotiations with Fianna Fáil on forming a government. The programme for government was approved by 86% of party members who attended a specially convened conference in Dublin's Mansion House, after which the party entered office for the first time. On 14 June 2007 he was named as Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in the new coalition government.
As the new Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Gormley took over the responsibility for the controversial decision to allow the excavation of national monuments near the historical site of the Hill of Tara to facilitate the construction of the M3 motorway. On his final day in office, outgoing minister Dick Roche signed an order which allowed a newly discovered National Monument at Lismullin near Tara to be studied and then destroyed to make way for the building of the motorway. Gormley stated that he was unable for legal reasons to reverse this order, although opposition parties claimed that he did have such a power. Green Party TD Ciarán Cuffe expressed his dissatisfaction with the former Minister Roche's decision and expressed his hope that Gormley could reverse it.[4]
In September 2007, he announced regulations introducing reductions in energy consumption and carbon emissions for all new homes in new building regulations.[5] The new regulations are also set to make renewable energy mandatory for all Irish homes.
He lives in Ringsend with his wife, Penny, and their son and daughter.
[edit] Leader of Green Party
Following the general election of 2007, Trevor Sargent resigned as leader of the Green Party. The following leadership election was contested by Gormley and Patricia McKenna, and the Green Party announced that in the postal ballot he received 478 votes to McKenna's 263. There were 34 spoiled ballots.[6]
[edit] References
- ^ "Mr. John Gormley". Oireachtas Members Database. http://oireachtas.ie/members-hist/default.asp?housetype=0&HouseNum=28&MemberID=472&ConstID=92. Retrieved on 20 June 2009.
- ^ "Video of Gormley confronting McDowell". RTÉ News. 16 May 2007. http://dynamic.rte.ie/av/230-2248710.smil.
- ^ "John Gormley". ElectionsIreland.org. http://electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=3480. Retrieved on 20 June 2009.
- ^ "Gormley seeks legal advice over M3 site". RTÉ News. 15 June 2007. http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0615/m3.html.
- ^ http://constructireland.ie/articles/part-l-building-regulations/part-l-revealed.html
- ^ "Gormley elected Green Party leader". RTÉ News. 17 July 2007. http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0717/greens.html.
