Eamon Ryan has announced that he is stepping down as leader of the Green Party, while Catherine Martin confirmed that she will not put forward her name to be the next party leader and will step down as deputy leader.
In an announcement at this morning's Cabinet meeting, Mr Ryan said he was stepping down "to pass the torch to a new generation of leaders". He has also announced that he will not contest in the next general election.
Mr Ryan will continue as party leader and in his role as Minister for Communications, Climate and Environment until a replacement is appointed, adding he looked forward to fulfilling whatever role a new leader assigns him for as long as the current Government remains in place.
In a statement, Ms Martin said: "At this point in time, I will not be putting myself forward for the Leadership contest. I will also step back as Deputy Leader."
The Dublin Rathdown TD, who was seen as a frontrunner to replace Mr Ryan as Green Party leader, said that she will contest the next general election.
She thanked Mr Ryan for his leadership of the Green Party, and said that she looked forward to "supporting the new leadership of the party".
Speaking on RTÉ's Six One News, Mr Ryan said that he was party leader for 13 years and that now was the time for a new generation of leaders.
"I've enjoyed every day of it," he said. "It has been a privilege to be involved in public life, in public office, but I won't be running in the next general election, and that's for a variety of reasons including family commitments."
He said it was better to resign now and give a new leader time to prepare and to allow a new candidate to be selected for Dublin Bay South.
"And after the local and European elections, there was an appropriate time, a time of change for me to step down."
Ryan took decision to step back 'a while ago'
After his announced his decision to step back as Green Party leader, Mr Ryan said: "I cannot continue to work the long hours that being a public representative involves which is why I'm not standing again in the next general election.
"I have parenting commitments at home which I also want to serve. We have a son with special needs who also requires my attention.
"My wife Victoria has been my greatest support and inspiration. I want to thank her and all my family and friends who have been at my side at all times."
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Mr Ryan said he came to the decision "a while ago", but that the time was not quite right to announce it.
"We are into a new political cycle now. The local and European elections have been completed and while the next election won't happen immediately, it is something that every party will be preparing for over the coming weeks and months.
"This is a good time to hand over to a new leader who can bring a new perspective and new way of doing things to the job."
Mr Ryan said he will stay "completely neutral" in the campaign to appoint his successor. "Our party will have a mechanism that will be set out in the coming days," he added.
"I don't know who is going to run, but one thing I'm certain of is we have really good potential leaders so whoever it is I'll be backing them up to the hilt once they're elected."
Mr Ryan has led the party since 2011 and retained the role after a leadership contest in 2020 when he defeated Catherine Martin by 994 votes to 946.
This afternoon, Taoiseach Simon Harris described Mr Ryan as "a politician of enormous standing".
"Eamon is a genuine, passionate and inherently decent person who brings those same qualities to politics.
"The Government's work continues and the programme for government between the three coalition parties will continue to be implemented. We have much work to do.
Mr Ryan was first elected to the Dáil in 2002 in what was then the Dublin South constituency, and served as minister for communications from 2007 to 2011.
He lost his Dáil seat in 2011 but was re-elected in Dublin Bay South in 2016.
His announcement comes after both of the Green Party's MEPs - Ciarán Cuffe and Grace O'Sullivan - lost their seats in the European elections.
The number of Green Party councillors was also halved in the local elections.
Mr Ryan is the second leader of a coalition party to step down this year, after former taoiseach Leo Varadkar stepped away from that role and stepped down as Fine Gael leader in April.
Read more:
Ryan's departure raises big questions for Green Party
Eamon Ryan departs politics on own terms after 25 years
