LAST UPDATE | 18 Jun

NOW THAT EAMON Ryan has ruled himself out of running in the next general election, attention will undoubtedly turn quickly to the candidates in the Green Party likely to vie for his Dublin Bay South seat in the Dáil.

Ryan’s shoes need filling and after the Green Party suffered some serious defeats in the local and EU elections, stabilising its footing in its south Dublin stronghold will be one of the top priorities. 

Among the potential runners are three Dublin candidates who performed well in the local elections – Claire Byrne, Hazel Chu and Carolyn Moore – all of whom have seats in the Dublin Bay South constituency. 

DCC councillor Hazel Chu Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

All three women either topped the poll on 7 June or got elected to Dublin City Council in the first round of vote counting. 

Byrne is a DCC councillor for the South East Inner City ward, Chu represents the Pembroke area and Moore holds a seat in Kimmage-Rathmines. 

The wild card option for the Green Party would be to run Ciaran Cuffe, who lost his MEP seat for Dublin last week. However, given the number of strong candidates already in the constituency, the party may consider running him on the northside instead.

Eamon Ryan (left) with ciaran Cuffe at the RDs during vote counting. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Cuffe was previously a TD for Dun Laoghaire in south Dublin.

The alternative would be to run him in the nearby Dublin Bay North constituency, which will see three TDs stepping down ahead of the upcoming general election.

When asked about the Green Party’s plans for who they might run in Ryan’s place, Hazel Chu told The Journal that she didn’t want to weigh on that today. 

DCC councillor Carolyn Moore Green Party Green Party

“For me, I would very much like to thank Eamon for his leadership and focus on him today,” Chu said.

“My main thing is just to wish him well and make sure that the party stays its course.” 

Claire Byrne told The Journal the same thing: “Today is Eamon’s day.” 

That may well be the case for the day that’s in it, but the nature of electoral politics means moments for sentimentality and farewells are often short lived. Just look at Leo Varadkar’s resignation.

It wasn’t long before Fine Gael, and the country, had a new leader after backroom talks among the party’s heavy hitters. 

Similar conversations have surely been taking place in the last number of days about who will take over from Eamon Ryan as leader, but figuring out who to run to defend his Dáil seat in the next general election would seem to be the second most pressing task for the Greens.