The Irish Green Party: From Protest to Mainstream Party?

Abstract

In the comparative study of party organisation and party systems Irish parties have long been considered as deviant. While this might, in certain respects at least, be a proper description for the major Irish parties, the Irish Green Party mirrors the transformation from a loose protest movement opposed to ‘conventional politics’ into an established force in the Irish party system – most visible in its current government participation – that a range of Green parties in other European countries have already experienced. This paper analyses this transformation by focusing on the party’s organisational evolution from its foundation in 1981 until 2009. One of the core findings is that its growing political relevance was accompanied by a shift towards a stronger professionalisation of party elites, which pushed for a streamlining of intra‐organisational procedures. This development empowered the party in public office and thereby centralised the party organisation, a finding in line with theories on new parties’ long‐term evolution.