The Green Party has come a long way since 2011 when it went from six TDs to none following its doomed coalition with Fianna Fáil, resulting in less than 2 per cent of the national vote and a loss of State funding.

Party leader Eamon Ryan led a team to slowly rebuild the party Lazarus-like, first to re-election for himself in 2016 and a new seat for party deputy leader Catherine Martin.

Then a growing international climate change campaign led to a surge in support for the party.

An impassioned speaker, he has spent the past four years pushing a climate change agenda to ensure a sustainable economy. He raised some eyebrows and subsequently regretted his call for the re-introduction of wolves, an attempt to highlight how species are being pushed to extinction.

A councillor before his 2007 election to the Dáil, he previously ran a bicycle shop and cycling holiday business. He is married to journalist and author Victoria White and they have four sons.