Independents do not provide stability to coalitions, Roderic O’Gorman has said as part of a drive for support for his Green Party.
Mr O’Gorman said it was “looking likely” that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil would be returned to Government, but added that they would need support to make up a majority.
The Green leader said this could result in “right-wing independents” or “small populist parties” padding out the numbers.
He said it was clear to him that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil wanted a coalition partner “that represents the path of least resistance”, adding that the “Green Party fights hard”.
He added: “My sense is certainly the mood music from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael is that they’d like an easier life in the next government – and my concern is they use these small populist parties and right-wing independents.”
Mr O’Gorman, who has been minister for integration in the coalition since 2020, argued that the Green Party could continue to provide stability to government at a time when economic shocks may be around the corner.
Donald Trump’s presidential election victory in the US has brought heightened concern that his administration’s proposals around corporation tax and tariffs would significantly impact Ireland’s economic model.
As the public makes up its mind before polls open on Friday, he said: “Our message to voters today is: ‘Don’t allow us to sleepwalk into a Conservative government in this country’.
“We know that the Green Party provided the direction of the last government on climate, on public transport, on support for families and children.”
He added: “The polls are really close right now, it’s looking likely that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil will be returned to government – but they’ll need something extra there.
“And there is a very real possibility of right-wing independents or small populist parties propping up the next government.
“And just in the same way as the Green Party provided a progressive direction over the last four-and-a-half years, small parties, populist parties could provide a very negative, a very regressive direction going forward.”
In particular, he singled out independent candidate for Tipperary Mattie McGrath, who has clashed with the government in the Dail several times, and Peadar Tóibín, who founded the Aontu party after a split with Sinn Féin on abortion rights.
“We could have the very real possibility of the likes of Mattie McGrath as environment minister in the next number of years, rolling back on the key changes that the Green Party implemented,” he said.
“We could have had Peadar Toibin as minister for health, rolling back the reproductive rights that women have won over the last five years.”
Mr O’Gorman said a coalition relying on independents would be unstable when compared with the Greens’ record in government.
“At a time when we may see economic turbulence, we may see the implications of the new government in the United States, that sort of instability is absolutely the wrong thing for Ireland right now,” he said.
A spokesperson for Mr McGrath said Mr O’Gorman’s “crocodile tears could fill a swimming pool”, as he criticised the Greens’ record on immigration and fuel costs.
The spokesperson said: “If in government, the Rural Independents would prioritise common sense, target waste reduction, and ensure that the voices of rural Ireland, working people, the voiceless and less well-off are front and centre in all decision-making.”
Mr Toibin has been contacted for comment.
