Former Green Party TD Dan Boyle hopes the Welsh Green Party can win seats in the Welsh Assembly elections which take place on Thursday.
Mr Boyle, a Green Party TD for Cork South Central from 2002 until 2007, has been campaign manager for the Welsh Green Party since October 2015.
He said following the securing of two Dáil seats by the Irish Green Party the Welsh Assembly was the only parliament in Britain or Ireland without Green Party representation.
Mr Boyle said he saw an advertisement last year for the position of campaign manager for the Welsh Green Party and decided to apply, partly because he had time on his hands and partly because he felt that he should leave it to others to rebuild the Green Party vote in Cork.
“To be honest, I felt I might have got in the way in Ireland in the last few months so it was better to support from a distance rather than getting involved. I did a lot of social media but in terms of building up the vote, I thought people had to look at the wider Green Party rather than just me.”
Mr Boyle said he has enjoyed the past eight months but is under no illusions about the scale of the challenge facing the party in a highly competitive election contest in Wales.
Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and UKIP are all vying with the Greens for seats in the 60-person assembly.
“It’s gone well enough but we have had our trials and tribulations. Just like the Irish Greens, we had to fight and argue to get representation on TV debates with BBC and ITV but we won that which was important as we have a new party leader, Alice Hooker-Stroud.
“She’s an interesting leader in that she’s 31 and a fluent Welsh speaker. The Green Party here in Wales has been seen as an English party over the years so with Alice being a Welsh speaker, it ‘s an opportunity for us to carve out a Welsh identity.”
Ms Hooker-Stroud is one of 30 Green Party candidates running in the 40 single-seat constituencies and faces a challenge to take a seat in the constituency of Dwyfor Meironnydd.
However, she is also running on a regional list for Mid and West Wales where Mr Boyle hopes she will be in contention.
He said Ms Hooker-Stroud was from Machynlleth, the seat of the original Welsh Parliament set up 1404 but winning the single seat there would be a challenge in a first past the post race with seven candidates.
Mr Boyle said he is surprised UKIP is stronger in Wales than in any other part of the UK, making his job more difficult as it leaves the Welsh Greens effectively battling with Lib Dems for fourth spot in the polls.
“There are some similarities with Irish politics but then there are some unique Welsh features and one which I am still trying to figure out is that UKIP is more popular in Wales than anywhere else in the UK, even though Wales benefits more than anywhere in the UK from EU funding.
“As well as Labour, Plaid Cymru are strong and you also have the Tories, though the Lib Dems aren’t in a great position at the moment so we need to be ahead of them.
“Increasing our vote would be a success but if we won a seat that would be a real success and breakthrough for the party.”
