John Gormley
Encyclopedia
John Gormley is an Irish
politician. He was the leader of the Irish Green Party
from 2007 to 2011, and was a Teachta Dála
(TD) for the Dublin South East
constituency from 1997 to 2011. He served as Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government from 2007–11. He was previously the party spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Health and Children, and chairman of the party.
, University College Dublin
and the University of Freiburg
. 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
, in the Dublin South East
constituency, but was not elected. He also unsuccessfully contested the 1989 Seanad election and 1992 general election
. In 1990 he wrote The Green Guide For Ireland, containing advice on how to live and campaign environmentally.
He lives in Ringsend
with his wife, Penny, and their son and daughter.
and was Lord Mayor of Dublin
from 1994–95. At the 1997 general election
, Gormley became the third Green candidate elected to Dáil Éireann
- after a week-long re-count with Michael McDowell
, which he won by 27 votes. Gormley and Trevor Sargent
served as the only Green Party TDs from 1997–2002. He retained his seat at the 2002 general election
, increasing his vote and taking the first seat in his constituency, though McDowell gained the most number of first preferences.
He was elected to the newly created post of party Cathaoirleach (chairperson) of the Green Party 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); the need to have a party leader was suggested by Sargent.
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
.
Gormley was re-elected at the 2007 general election, beating McDowell for the last seat by 304 votes. 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 government for the first time. On 14 June 2007 he was named as Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in the new coalition.
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.
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. Green Party TD Ciarán Cuffe
expressed his dissatisfaction with the former Minister Roche's decision and expressed his hope that Gormley could reverse it. Gormley appointed a long standing critic of the M3 route, Dr. Conor Newman of NUIG, to oversee the archaeological work as part of a special committee on the Lismullen site.
In 2009 the Tara-Skryne Valley was designated Ireland's first Landscape Conservation Area by Gormley, prohibiting shopping malls and retail parks from being constructed in the area.
In September 2007, he announced regulations introducing reductions in energy consumption and carbon emissions for all new homes in new building regulations. New homes are to be 40% more energy efficient, which will reduce the carbon footprint of each house by 40% also. The new regulations are also set to make renewable energy mandatory for all new build homes.
In his leader's speech to the Green Party conference in April 2008, he provoked a walk-out of the Chinese Ambassador and diplomatic delegation by calling for solidarity with the people of Tibet
and referring to Tibet as a nation.
July 2008 saw changes to VRT and road tax which Gormley had brought about the previous year. The charges are now calculated on the basis of the carbon emissions of the vehicle. This had a dramatic effect according to the Sustainable Energy
Authority of Ireland on the type of car sales that have occurred subsequently.
In November 2008, he announced new quality standards for rented accommodation which landlords would be obliged to follow. Additional funding for inspections and more severe penalties for landlords who provide substandard accommodation formed part of the initiative.
Gormley introduced a "Bike Scheme" in January 2009 which promoted cycling to work by offering tax incentives to employees and employers who purchased bicycles and switched to cycling. The scheme is part of a strategy to double the number of journeys made by bike by 2020, and also includes a multi-million euro cycle-path upgrade plan.
In 2010, Gormley made a Ministerial order, forcing councillors in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council to revise a decision to rezone lands at The Park, Carrickmines
(for retail development) during the framing of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown's County Development Plan late in 2009. The Council ultimately voted for the proposal that was advanced by Fine Gael Councillors Jim O'Leary (now resigned) and Barry Ward, but this decision was the subject of much criticism from John Gormley's Green Party colleague and local TD, Ciaran Cuffe
. In March 2010, the Minister instructed the Council to reverse its decision.
In a close vote (with then Cathaoirleach Marie Baker exercising a casting a vote in favour of the Minister), the Council did change its decision, but the developer (Tristor Ltd.) took the Minister and Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council to the High Court. Mr Justice Frank Clarke
eventually ruled on the case in November 2010, finding that Minister Gormley had exceeded his powers by ordering the Council to change its decision. It remains to be seen what impact this will have on the Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Development Plan.
On 22 November 2010, he called for an election date to be fixed in the second half of January 2011 following the announcement of an EU financial rescue package for Ireland due to the ongoing financial crisis in the country. He resigned as Minister on 23 January 2011 when the Green Party withdrew from government.
on 27 May 2011.
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
politician. He was the leader of the Irish Green Party
Green Party (Ireland)
The Green Party is a green political party in Ireland. It was founded as the Ecology Party of Ireland in 1981 by Dublin teacher Christopher Fettes. The party became the Green Alliance in 1983 and in 1987 was renamed to its current title in English...
from 2007 to 2011, and was a Teachta Dála
Teachta Dála
A Teachta Dála , usually abbreviated as TD in English, is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas . It is the equivalent of terms such as "Member of Parliament" or "deputy" used in other states. The official translation of the term is "Deputy to the Dáil", though a more literal...
(TD) for the Dublin South East
Dublin South East (Dáil Éireann constituency)
Dublin South–East is a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas. The constituency elects 4 deputies...
constituency from 1997 to 2011. He served as Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government from 2007–11. He was previously the party spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Health and Children, and chairman of the party.
Early and personal life
Born in Dublin, Gormley was educated in St Munchin's College, LimerickLimerick
Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...
, University College Dublin
University College Dublin
University College Dublin ) - formally known as University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin is the Republic of Ireland's largest, and Ireland's second largest, university, with over 1,300 faculty and 17,000 students...
and the University of Freiburg
University of Freiburg
The University of Freiburg , sometimes referred to in English as the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.The university was founded in 1457 by the Habsburg dynasty as the...
. 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
Smog
Smog is a type of air pollution; the word "smog" is a portmanteau of smoke and fog. Modern smog is a type of air pollution derived from vehicular emission from internal combustion engines and industrial fumes that react in the atmosphere with sunlight to form secondary pollutants that also combine...
campaign in the 1980s. He contested his first general election in 1989
Irish general election, 1989
The Irish general election of 1989 was held on Thursday, 15 June 1989, three weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 25 May. The newly elected 166 members of the 26th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 29 June...
, in the Dublin South East
Dublin South East (Dáil Éireann constituency)
Dublin South–East is a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas. The constituency elects 4 deputies...
constituency, but was not elected. He also unsuccessfully contested the 1989 Seanad election and 1992 general election
Irish general election, 1992
The Irish general election of 1992 was held on Wednesday, 25 November 1992, almost three weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 5 November. However, after difficulties in forming a government the newly elected 166 members of the 27th Dáil did not assemble at Leinster House until 4 January 1993...
. In 1990 he wrote The Green Guide For Ireland, containing advice on how to live and campaign environmentally.
He lives in Ringsend
Ringsend
Ringsend is a southside inner suburb of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. It is located on the south bank of the River Liffey, about two kilometres east of the city centre, and is the southern terminus of the East Link Toll Bridge....
with his wife, Penny, and their son and daughter.
Political life
In 1991 he was elected to Dublin City CouncilDublin City Council
Dublin City Council is the local authority for the city of Dublin in Ireland. It has 52 members and is the largest local authority in Ireland. Until 2001, it was known as Dublin Corporation.-Legal status:...
and was Lord Mayor of Dublin
Lord Mayor of Dublin
The Lord Mayor of Dublin is the honorific title of the Chairman of Dublin City Council which is the local government body for the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The incumbent is Labour Party Councillor Andrew Montague. The office holder is elected annually by the members of the...
from 1994–95. At the 1997 general election
Irish general election, 1997
The Irish general election of 1997 was held on Friday, 6 June 1997. The 166 newly elected members of the 28th Dáil assembled on 26 June 1997 when a new Taoiseach and government were appointed....
, Gormley became the third Green candidate elected to Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann is the lower house, but principal chamber, of the Oireachtas , which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann . It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote...
- after a week-long re-count with Michael McDowell
Michael McDowell
Michael McDowell is a Senior Counsel in the Bar Council of Ireland and a former politician. A grandson of Irish revolutionary Eoin MacNeill, McDowell was a founding member of the Progressive Democrats political party in the mid-1980s...
, which he won by 27 votes. Gormley and Trevor Sargent
Trevor Sargent
Trevor Sargent is an Irish Green Party politician. He was a Teachta Dála for the Dublin North constituency from 1992 to 2011...
served as the only Green Party TDs from 1997–2002. He retained his seat at the 2002 general election
Irish general election, 2002
The Irish general election of 2002 was held on Friday, 17 May 2002 just over three weeks after the dissolution of the 28th Dáil on Thursday 25 April by President Mary McAleese, at the request of the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern...
, increasing his vote and taking the first seat in his constituency, though McDowell gained the most number of first preferences.
He was elected to the newly created post of party Cathaoirleach (chairperson) of the Green Party 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); the need to have a party leader was suggested by Sargent.
On 16 May 2007, during the run up to the 2007 general election, Gormley emerged from a crowd of journalists to confront Michael McDowell
Michael McDowell
Michael McDowell is a Senior Counsel in the Bar Council of Ireland and a former politician. A grandson of Irish revolutionary Eoin MacNeill, McDowell was a founding member of the Progressive Democrats political party in the mid-1980s...
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
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
.
Gormley was re-elected at the 2007 general election, beating McDowell for the last seat by 304 votes. Following the election he led negotiations with Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...
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 government for the first time. On 14 June 2007 he was named as Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in the new coalition.
Leader of Green Party
Following the general election of 2007, Trevor SargentTrevor Sargent
Trevor Sargent is an Irish Green Party politician. He was a Teachta Dála for the Dublin North constituency from 1992 to 2011...
resigned as leader of the Green Party. The following leadership election was contested by Gormley and Patricia McKenna
Patricia McKenna
Patricia McKenna is an Irish independent politician. She served as a Green Party Member of the European Parliament for the Dublin constituency from 1994 to 2004.-Background:...
, and the Green Party announced that in the postal ballot he received 478 votes to McKenna's 263.
Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government
As the new Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Gormley took over the responsibility for the decision to allow the excavation of national monuments near the historical site of the Hill of TaraHill of Tara
The Hill of Tara , located near the River Boyne, is an archaeological complex that runs between Navan and Dunshaughlin in County Meath, Leinster, Ireland...
to facilitate the construction of the M3 motorway. On his final day in office, outgoing minister Dick Roche
Dick Roche
Dick Roche is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was a Teachta Dála for the Wicklow constituency, and also served in Seanad Éireann from 1992 to 1997.-Early and private life:...
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. Green Party TD Ciarán Cuffe
Ciarán Cuffe
Ciarán Cuffe is an Irish Green Party politician, an architect and a lecturer in planning. He was a Teachta Dála for the Dún Laoghaire constituency from 2002 to 2011, and served as Minister of State for Horticulture; Sustainable Travel; and Planning and Heritage from 2010 to 2011.-Background:Born...
expressed his dissatisfaction with the former Minister Roche's decision and expressed his hope that Gormley could reverse it. Gormley appointed a long standing critic of the M3 route, Dr. Conor Newman of NUIG, to oversee the archaeological work as part of a special committee on the Lismullen site.
In 2009 the Tara-Skryne Valley was designated Ireland's first Landscape Conservation Area by Gormley, prohibiting shopping malls and retail parks from being constructed in the area.
In September 2007, he announced regulations introducing reductions in energy consumption and carbon emissions for all new homes in new building regulations. New homes are to be 40% more energy efficient, which will reduce the carbon footprint of each house by 40% also. The new regulations are also set to make renewable energy mandatory for all new build homes.
In his leader's speech to the Green Party conference in April 2008, he provoked a walk-out of the Chinese Ambassador and diplomatic delegation by calling for solidarity with the people of Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
and referring to Tibet as a nation.
July 2008 saw changes to VRT and road tax which Gormley had brought about the previous year. The charges are now calculated on the basis of the carbon emissions of the vehicle. This had a dramatic effect according to the Sustainable Energy
Sustainable energy
Sustainable energy is the provision of energy that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Sustainable energy sources include all renewable energy sources, such as hydroelectricity, solar energy, wind energy, wave power, geothermal...
Authority of Ireland on the type of car sales that have occurred subsequently.
In November 2008, he announced new quality standards for rented accommodation which landlords would be obliged to follow. Additional funding for inspections and more severe penalties for landlords who provide substandard accommodation formed part of the initiative.
Gormley introduced a "Bike Scheme" in January 2009 which promoted cycling to work by offering tax incentives to employees and employers who purchased bicycles and switched to cycling. The scheme is part of a strategy to double the number of journeys made by bike by 2020, and also includes a multi-million euro cycle-path upgrade plan.
In 2010, Gormley made a Ministerial order, forcing councillors in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council to revise a decision to rezone lands at The Park, Carrickmines
Carrickmines
Carrickmines is suburb of Dublin in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Ireland. Traditionally a location for large expensive houses, being situated just south of Foxrock. The area is now divided north/south by the M50 motorway and its associated Junction 15...
(for retail development) during the framing of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown's County Development Plan late in 2009. The Council ultimately voted for the proposal that was advanced by Fine Gael Councillors Jim O'Leary (now resigned) and Barry Ward, but this decision was the subject of much criticism from John Gormley's Green Party colleague and local TD, Ciaran Cuffe
Ciarán Cuffe
Ciarán Cuffe is an Irish Green Party politician, an architect and a lecturer in planning. He was a Teachta Dála for the Dún Laoghaire constituency from 2002 to 2011, and served as Minister of State for Horticulture; Sustainable Travel; and Planning and Heritage from 2010 to 2011.-Background:Born...
. In March 2010, the Minister instructed the Council to reverse its decision.
In a close vote (with then Cathaoirleach Marie Baker exercising a casting a vote in favour of the Minister), the Council did change its decision, but the developer (Tristor Ltd.) took the Minister and Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council to the High Court. Mr Justice Frank Clarke
Frank Clarke
Frank Clarke may refer to:* Frank Gay Clarke , U.S. Representative from New Hampshire, 1897–1901* Frank James Clarke , English footballer* Frank Wigglesworth Clarke , American chemist and mineralologist...
eventually ruled on the case in November 2010, finding that Minister Gormley had exceeded his powers by ordering the Council to change its decision. It remains to be seen what impact this will have on the Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Development Plan.
On 22 November 2010, he called for an election date to be fixed in the second half of January 2011 following the announcement of an EU financial rescue package for Ireland due to the ongoing financial crisis in the country. He resigned as Minister on 23 January 2011 when the Green Party withdrew from government.
2011 general election and aftermath
Gormley lost his seat at the 2011 general election on 25 February. He announced in an e-mail to Green Party members on 20 March 2011 that he would not be seeking re-election as leader of the party. He was succeeded as party leader by Eamon RyanEamon Ryan
Eamon Ryan is an Irish politician and leader of the Irish Green Party. He was a Teachta Dála for the Dublin South constituency from 2002 to 2011, and served as Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources from 2007 to 2011....
on 27 May 2011.