The new Irish Minster for Energy Communications and Natural Resources was recently in New York and he certainly represents a new departure in Irish politics.
Eamon Ryan is a fresh-faced fortysomething who uncannily resembles actor Gabriel Byrne, a comparison he says he uses to his advantage while canvassing.
More importantly, Ryan is one of two Green Party ministers in the Irish government, the first Green minister in any government in the English-speaking world.
In that he represents a new era in Irish politics, one that will have considerable impact in years to come.
The Greens voted to go into coalition with Fianna Fail and the Progressive Democrats after the last election, a move so controversial that party leader Trevor Sargent resigned his post rather than lead them into government.
New leader John Gormley, now minister for the environment, stated the Greens had to go into government, especially on the issue of global warming. “When it comes to climate change, it is the biggest issue for this party, for this government, for this country and for humanity at large,” he stated.
Time will tell whether it was the right move. Soon after the Greens joined the government a major controversy erupted over their decision to abide by a previous government’s decision to build a highway through the Tara region in Co. Meath, home to so many historical sites. They were accused of selling out even by some in their own party.
But the Greens had little option. They had their best ever election result and the offer of government was one they simply could not turn down. They could have waited a generation for another opportunity to present itself.
The perfect is always the enemy of the good of course, but in this instance the Greens made the only decision they could and accepted two full ministries plus several other more minor appointments.
They know that minority partners in Fianna Fail led coalitions have fared poorly. The Progressive Democrats are down to two members of the Dail (Parliament), and are barely hanging on as a party. The Greens could suffer the same fate.
They are different, however, to the usual run of the mill politicians. In the old days Irish ministers were often of the “cute hoor” variety, local paladins elected to national office with no further ambitions than taking care of the lads and lassies back home.
It was the worst kind of clientilism, and it is still a factor in Irish politics, but men like Ryan and his party colleague Gormley are quickly putting a different face on modern Irish politics.
The Greens have already had an impact, questioning some highly controversial planning decisions. They are also revealing themselves as pragmatic rather than pie in the sky, arguing for green energy, proper food standards, better environmental regulations and other items on their agenda with an eye to the possible rather than the impossible.
Ryan is also not your typical Irish politician. He cycles to work most days, and when in New York he went by subway to City Hall to meet Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
That may seem small potatoes. But his every move in New York was covered avidly on Irish televisions and in newspapers. There is a fascination with this new breed, even more so because the Fianna Fail faces are by now so hugely familiar to the public.
One of the great perks for the “cute hoors” was the availability of a state car to drive them everywhere, not to mention civil servants to allow their every whim.
The image of Ryan boarding the subway in New York was a great departure for Irish ministers, and it was certainly signaling a new priority for the Irish government.
Ryan has experience of America, having come over as a student and staying on to work as a waiter in New Orleans for a time.
He was undocumented for a time, a fact that made his meeting with Irish undocumented in the Bronx a far more effective meeting than it might have been otherwise. Having walked a few miles in their shoes, Ryan certainly knew some of what they were experiencing.
The impact of the Greens on Irish politics, now that they are in government, will be watched very closely, not just there but abroad also. If they manage to govern successfully it may well lead to big gains in the next election and a new player in Irish politics, which is still firmly wedged in the Irish Civil War era where the two main parties stem from.
Ryan may well be the first of many Greens to serve in government.