Ciarán Cuffe | |
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| Co-chair of theEuropean Green Party | |
| Assumed office 7 December 2024 Serving with Vula Tsetsi | |
| Preceded by | Thomas Waitz |
| Member of the European Parliament | |
| In office 2 July 2019 – 17 July 2024 | |
| Constituency | Dublin |
| Minister of State | |
| 2010–2011 | Agriculture, Fisheries and Food |
| 2010–2011 | Environment, Heritage and Local Government |
| 2010–2011 | Transport |
| Teachta Dála | |
| In office May 2002 – February 2011 | |
| Constituency | Dún Laoghaire |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1963-04-03)3 April 1963 (age 62) Shankill, Dublin, Ireland |
| Party |
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| Relatives |
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| Education | Gonzaga College |
| Alma mater | |
| Website | ciarancuffe |
Ciarán Cuffe (born 3 April 1963) is an Irish politician who has been co-chair of theEuropean Green Party (EGP) since December 2024.[1] He served as aMember of the European Parliament (MEP) fromIreland for theDublin constituency from July 2019 to July 2024. Cuffe is a member of theIrish Green Party, part of the EGP. He previously served as aMinister of State from 2010 to 2011. He was aTeachta Dála (TD) for theDún Laoghaire constituency from 2002 to 2011.[2]
He was born inShankill, Dublin, the son of Luan Peter Cuffe[3] and Patricia Sistine Skakel. Luan Cuffe was an architect who was involved in town planning forDún Laoghaire andWicklow before taking over his brother-in-law'sarchitectural practice. Luan Cuffe trained inHarvard University underWalter Gropius where he met Patricia Skakel whom he married. Through his mother Patricia, Ciarán is a grandson ofGeorge Skakel, a founder ofGreat Lakes Carbon Corporation, and a nephew ofEthel Skakel Kennedy. His cousins include the children of Ethel andRobert F. Kennedy.[4] Cuffe's granduncle was theFianna Fáil TDPatrick Little, and his great-grandfatherPhilip Francis Little was the first Prime Minister ofNewfoundland in 1854.[5][6][7] Cuffe is a member of the Dublin Cycling Campaign and has cycled coast-to-coast across theUnited States.[8]
He attended the Children's House Montessori School inStillorgan,Gonzaga College inRanelagh, theUniversity of Maine atOrono,University College Dublin, and theUniversity of Venice. Cuffe has degrees in architecture and urban planning fromUniversity College Dublin.[9] He teaches a masters programme in urban regeneration & development at theDublin Institute of Technology, Bolton Street.[10] In 2019 he completed an MSc in cities at theLondon School of Economics.[11]
Cuffe joined theGreen Party in 1982, and campaigned withStudents Against the Destruction of Dublin in the 1980s. He was twice elected toDublin City Council, in 1991 and 1999, for the South Inner City electoral area.[12] In 1996, he launched a free bikes scheme in which bicycles were placed around Dublin city centre for use by the public.[13]
He was an unsuccessful candidate for theDublin Central constituency at the1997 general election, but was elected to theDáil Éireann (lower house) at the2002 general election for theDún Laoghaire constituency.
In June 2003, he stepped down as the Green Party's environment spokesperson after it was revealed that he held shares worth $70,000 in a number of oil exploration companies which he had inherited when his late mother had left him $1.3 million in her will.[14] He was re-elected at the2007 general election.[12][15]
Following the 2007 election, the Green Party formed a coalition government with two other political parties and a number of independent TDs. Just after the election, on 28 May 2007, he wrote in his blog: "A deal withFianna Fáil would be adeal with the Devil. We would be spat out after 5 years, and decimated as a party."[16]
He lost his seat at the2011 general election.
On 23 March 2010, as part of a reshuffle, he was appointed asMinister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food,at the Department of Transport andat the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, with special responsibility for Horticulture, Sustainable Travel, and Planning and Heritage.[17][18]
While Cuffe was minister, theOireachtas enacted the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2010 to address land-use planning failures and over-zoning of development land.[19] The legislation reformed the way development plans and local area plans are made and, for the first time in Irish legislation, included a definition ofAnthropogenic Climate Change and required energy use to be taken into account in planning decisions. He published the Climate Change Response Bill 2010, and an update of theNational Spatial Strategy.[20][21] He was head of the Irish delegation at the2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference inCancún,Mexico.[22]
He promoted healthy eating for children, school gardens and local markets. He published bills toaddress climate change, noise pollution, and heritage protection. In January 2011, Cuffe launched a new policy of allowing bicycles on off-peakDART trains.[23]
He resigned as Minister of State on 23 January 2011, when the Green Party withdrew from government.[24][25]
At the2014 local elections he was elected toDublin City Council for Dublin North Inner City area, on the 13th count.[26] He was appointed chairperson for the Dublin City Council Transportation Committee in 2014.[27] As a member of the Central Area Committee for Dublin City Council, he worked to provide a site for the Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire primary school on Dominick Street in 2017.[28] Cuffe introduced 30 km/h speed limits to residential and school areas of Dublin.[29] He also advocates for a car-freeCollege Green.[30] He called for an increase in affordable housing in Dublin, specifically for people with different incomes.[31] Speaking on the Strategic Development Zone in theDocklands, he stated, "We have seen a lot of cranes in the Docklands but not a lot of homes. Particularly affordable homes."[32] He proposed a Motion declaring a Climate Emergency and this was approved at a meeting of the Council 13 May 2019.[33]
Cuffe was selected as theGreen Party candidate for theDublin constituency at the2019 European Parliament elections. He topped the poll, receiving 63,849 votes and was elected as anMEP on the 13th count, with 17.54% first preference votes.[34] He was also re-elected to Dublin City Council, but due to the prohibition on adual mandate, this seat was co-opted to fellow Green Party memberJanet Horner.[35]
Cuffe was a member of theTRAN (Transport and Tourism) Committee of the European Parliament and is the Coordinator of theGreens-EFA Group. He was also a member of theITRE (Industry, Research and Energy) Committee, and wrote an own initiative report (The Cuffe Report) on maximising the Energy Efficiency of the EU building stock (2020/2070).[36][37] In 2022, he was appointed rapporteur on thedirective on the Energy Performance of Buildings (EPBD).[38]
Cuffe was President of the European Forum for Renewable Energy Sources (EUFORES),[39] a cross-party European parliamentary network gathering members of European, regional and national parliaments of the EU, and works to promote renewable energy andenergy efficiency.[40]
In June 2023, Cuffe was the recipient of the Energy, Science and Research Award atThe Parliament Magazine's annualMEP Awards[41]
Cuffe lost his seat at the2024 European Parliament election.[42]
On 7 December 2024, Cuffe was elected co-chair of the European Green Party alongsideVula Tsetsi, receiving "near unanimous" support from European green parties. The duo ran on a platform of "[taking] on the extreme right, and to bolster a green and just transition that benefits everyone."[43][44]
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