Roger Garland

Roger Garland (born February 1933) is an Irish environmental activist and a former Green Party politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South constituency from 1989 to 1992.[1]

Roger Garland
Teachta Dála
In office
June 1989 – November 1992
ConstituencyDublin South
Personal details
Born (1933-02-01) 1 February 1933
Dublin, Ireland
NationalityIrish
Political partyGreen Party
EducationCastleknock College

He was the Green Party's first candidate to be elected to Dáil Éireann.

Biography

Garland was educated at Castleknock College in Dublin.

He stood for the Green Party in the 1989 general election, and was elected to represent Dublin South, becoming the party's first ever TD.[2] Garland lost his seat following the 1992 general election with a dramatic fall in his vote, dropping from 8.8% in 1989 to 3.8%, which was among the lowest votes for a sitting TD.[3][4]

At the 1994 European Parliament election, Garland backed an independent Green candidate Peter Sweetman, over the official Green Party candidate, Nuala Ahern, in the Leinster constituency.[4] Ahern went on to win the seat, to the surprise of many, and an attempt was made to throw Garland out of the party for his disloyalty, including vote in a specially convened party council.[4][5] Following the 2007 general election, Garland was one of the leading internal critics of the Greens' decision to enter coalition with Fianna Fáil.

In 1997, he helped found Friends of the Irish Environment, which is a network of Independent Environmentalists, along with other environmental activists Tony Lowes, David Healy, Peter Sweetman, and Sarah Dillon. He is currently chairman of the Keep Ireland Open (KIO) group. He is also a current member of the environmental board of An Taisce the National Trust For Ireland, its most influential environmental body.

References
  1. "Roger Garland". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
  2. "Green Party | political party, Ireland". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  3. "Roger Garland". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
  4. "Maybe still just a little bit too green". independent. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  5. O'Neill, Michael (2019). Green Parties and Political Change in Contemporary Europe: New Politics, Old Predicaments. Routledge. p. 330.
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