Irish Greens fall from junior coalition partner to virtual wipeout in election

The Green party in Ireland is facing virtual wipeout in the general election, with its leader last night admitting it is entering a period of "rebuild" after the electorate removed any prospect of the party re-entering government.

- Lisa O'Carroll

The Greens looked set to lose all of its 12 seats but one, that of Roderic O'Gorman, who took over as leader in July. Such a result would prevent it from teaming up again with the two centre-right parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, which looked likely to come within a few seats of the 88-seat majority needed to form the 34th government of Ireland.

Ireland's proportional representation system, involving multiple counts and too-close-to-call scraps for the final seats in many constituencies, makes the post-election vote count last days. But by late yesterday, it appeared likely O'Gorman would be the Greens' sole representative in the Dáil, a humiliation for a party that won 12 seats at the last election.

Another high-profile loser yesterday was the gangland figure Gerry Hutch, who lost to Labour in the Dublin central constituency where the four seats were filled by others, including the Sinn Féin leader, Mary Lou McDonald.