Green Party leader Roderic O'Gorman has confirmed he is seeking to be re-elected as the party's leader.
Deputy O'Gorman is a former minister for children who became leader of the Green Party last summer before leading his party into a general election which saw it lose 11 of its 12 seats.
As part of the Green Party's internal constitution, Deputy O'Gorman - who is now its only TD - must seek re-election as leader within six months of a general election.
In a statement today, he said he will do so.
"Today, the Green Party executive has opened the call for nominations for party Leader, and I want to tell members that I am standing for re-election as leader of our party.
"As the climate crisis worsens, the role of the Green Party as a strong voice for highlighting the environmental challenges we face, and bringing forward solutions that benefit everyone in Irish society, is more important than ever.
"We had a really disappointing outcome in the general election.
"But since then, I've led the work to rebuild the Party; being a strong voice for climate in the Dáil, appointing a new team of spokespersons to shadow government ministers and drafting a new strategic plan for the party.
"In the strategic plan, we are looking to listen and to learn why we lost votes, and understand how we can build back support across all parts of our country.
"We’ve a lot to do, but I’m absolutely committed to driving this forward, over the next five years. I’m asking members for their nomination, so we can get going on this vital work."
In July last year, Deputy O'Gorman won a leadership contest against Senator Pippa Hackett to replace Eamon Ryan, by 984 votes to 912.
Noonan rules himself out of contest
The Green Party's representative in the Seanad, Malcom Noonan, has this evening ruled himself out of the leadership contest.
In a statement to RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Noonan said he would not be putting himself forward, and had contacted Mr O'Gorman to pledge his support.
He said: "I believe that the party needs stability, experience and to remain laser focused on our core mission of climate and nature because no other party is leading on these issues. Roderic offers the best opportunity to rebuild the party.
"We have been here before but we are in a better position than 2011 with Dáil and Seanad representation and 24 excellent councillors around the country doing great work in their locality.
"Roderic has just appointed his front bench spokespeople and I'm proud to be part of that team. I look forward to the work ahead under Roderic's leadership should he be re-elected. "
