Green Party (Comhaontas Glas)
EU RANK: 145 (Tier 4: Low Performance)
The Green Party is a progressive, pro‑EU party rooted in green politics, environmental protection and social justice. Under Roderic O’Gorman, who became leader in July 2024 and was re‑elected in May 2025, the party has focused on climate policy, housing and social‑rights agendas while attempting to rebuild after a sharp electoral setback. Following participation as a junior partner in the 2020–2024 coalition government, the Greens fell from 12 TDs to 1 TD in the 2024 general election and now hold 23 local‑council seats and no MEPs, leaving them as a small opposition force outside cabinet since January 2025.
In spite of low DMI risks across all dimensions, the party’s overall European ranking remains weak because of this ineffective recent electoral performance.
Disinformation and alternative media
The Green Party communicates primarily through mainstream broadcasters, national press and its own social‑media and website channels; it does not maintain a large alternative‑media ecosystem of party‑aligned “news” portals. As a smaller party with limited resources, it depends on earned media from parliamentary work and issue‑based campaigns rather than on high‑volume digital advertising or coordinated online influence networks. Research on Ireland’s digital campaigning notes that the Greens, along with Labour and the Social Democrats, have modest digital reach relative to Sinn Féin and the main centre‑right parties and use social media mainly for policy‑focused content. There is no evidence for 2015–2025 of the party running systematic disinformation campaigns or operating organised false‑news infrastructures. Disinformation/alternative‑media DMI risk is low.
Foreign influence and external alignments
The Green Party is strongly pro‑EU and aligns with European green and progressive party families, advocating ambitious EU‑level climate action, social rights and rule‑of‑law protections. Its funding profile mirrors that of other Irish parties: significant exchequer funding under the Electoral Act, linked to vote share, plus tightly regulated and capped private donations. SIPO reports show the Greens receiving around 0.55–0.61 million euro per year in public subsidies between 2021 and 2024, with relatively small volumes of large disclosed donations and no substantial foreign‑source inflows. No credible investigations or court cases in 2015–2025 suggest hostile‑state financing, covert foreign control or links to authoritarian influence networks; integrity debates around foreign influence focus mainly on regulatory frameworks rather than on this party. Foreign‑influence and external‑alignment DMI risk is low.
Media capture, advertising and public service media
While in government from 2020 to early 2024, the Green Party played a central role in shaping Ireland’s online‑safety and media‑regulation framework, particularly through the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act that created Coimisiún na Meán. This gave the party significant policy influence over the rules governing platforms, broadcasting and online harms, but it did not translate into ownership stakes or partisan control of broadcasters or major publishers. After leaving government, the Greens lost direct cabinet leverage over RTÉ funding debates and now operate as a small opposition party in a media market dominated by professionalised groups such as Mediahuis and Bauer. There is no evidence that they have used state advertising or regulatory appointments to build a party‑loyal media ecosystem at national or local level. Media‑capture, advertising and PSB‑control DMI risk is low.
Corruption, litigation and institutional integrity
The litigation and ethics overview for 2015–2025 does not highlight major corruption or ethics cases centred on Green Party ministers or TDs. High‑salience scandals in this period, including Golfgate, property‑declaration failures, planning controversies and the Varadkar GP‑contract dispute, chiefly implicate politicians from other parties and independents. Party‑finance analysis indicates that the Greens rely heavily on public subsidies and a relatively small eco‑oriented donor base, with no dominant oligarch sponsors and limited overall campaign spending—especially after their 2024 electoral collapse. While participation in government inevitably exposes the party to political criticism, there is no pattern of grand‑corruption cases, serious criminal convictions or systemic misuse of state resources involving its leadership. Corruption and institutional‑integrity DMI risk is low.
Press freedom, harassment and treatment of media
As a junior partner in the 2020–2024 government, the Green Party was closely involved in designing the regulatory framework for online safety and media oversight but did so through legislation that applied across parties and sectors and was scrutinised by parliament and stakeholders. The party publicly supports independent journalism and has not been associated with high‑profile defamation suits against reporters or systematic attempts to intimidate media. In the broader Irish context, press‑freedom concerns centre on RTÉ’s governance, economic pressures on newsrooms and the plaintiff‑friendly defamation regime, with no particular pattern of Green‑driven legal harassment. The Greens’ rhetoric around media policy emphasises platform accountability and public‑interest journalism rather than direct political control of editorial content. Press‑freedom and harassment‑of‑media DMI risk is low.
| Dimension | Risk level | Short justification |
|---|---|---|
| Disinformation & alternative media | Low | Relies on mainstream media and modest digital channels; no evidence of organised disinformation networks or party‑run alternative “news” ecosystem. |
| Foreign influence & external alignments | Low | Pro‑EU green profile; funding dominated by regulated public subsidies and small domestic donations with no substantiated hostile‑state links. |
| Media capture & advertising / PSB control | Low | Helped design online‑safety and media‑regulation law while in government, but holds no major media assets and shows no pattern of using state levers for partisan media capture. |
| Corruption & institutional integrity risk | Low | No major corruption or ethics scandals centred on the party’s leadership in 2015–2025; finances modest, transparent and heavily reliant on public funding. |
| Press freedom & harassment of media | Low | Supports independent journalism and systemic media reform; not associated with SLAPP‑type litigation or organised harassment of journalists. |