Outgoing Green Party leader Eamon Ryan says he feels the time is right for him to step aside.
Minister Ryan said he was leaving his role to “pass the torch to a new generation of leaders, confident in the strength and values I have seen built up in our party over all these years”.
Speaking earlier he said he would not be standing for re-election to the Dáil.
He will remain in his role as leader and minister until a new party leader is elected.
Deputy Green Party leader Catherine Martin has since said she will not be seeking the party leadership and will also 'step back' as deputy leader.
Eamon Ryan told The Hard Shoulder the timing felt right for him.
"I think it is time - I've been leader for 13 years and I've enjoyed every day of it, but there is real talent coming up and you want to pass the leadership to them," he said.
"Secondly I've commitments at home.
"I'm not going to stand in the next general election and given that I had to give whoever my successor is - not just as leader of the party but whoever will stand for us in Dublin Bay South - I had to make it clear what my intentions were.
"I've been thinking about this for some months obviously but I thought after the local and European elections was the right time".
@newstalkfm 'I've given it my all' Eamon Ryan opens up on the reasons behind stepping down as Green Party leader #greenparty #politics #news #ireland #government #newstalk ♬ original sound - Newstalk
Eamon Ryan said people shouldn't have to sacrifice family for politics.
"We can't make politics an impossible profession; it is something that you have to commit to," he said.
"But you have to be able to mix family with it.
"I've particular circumstances - we've a son who has special needs - and anyone with a similar circumstances will know [that] one of the great things in our lives at home is we'll never stop parenting but that's also tough".
Eamon Ryan speaking during his leaders speech at their party conference in Dublin's RDS, 20/4/24. Image: Sasko Lazarov/© RollingNews.ieDeputy Ryan said he was "always" going to step away before the next general election.
"I shared with my colleagues the intention and we agreed the date kind of collectively," he said.
"You want to get it done in a way where you are in control of it and you're not being forced into making a statement.
"I'm very proud of our party, I'm very proud of what we've been doing in Government.
"It's a chance to say I've given it my all and will continue to the end of this Government [to] do whatever I can".
'What I'm most proud of'
Eamon Ryan said he believes Ireland is only at the start of a green change.
"We have fundamentally changed the direction of the country in terms of how our transport system works, our land use, how farming [works], our energy system," he said.
"I don't think those changes are going to be undone, we're only at the start of this change.
"That's I suppose what I'm most proud of".
Eamon Ryan with The Hard Shoulder host Kieran Cuddihy, 18-6-24. Image: NewstalkDeputy Ryan said his most challenging time was around the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I was involved in the financial crash, I was working very closely with Brian Lenihan, and that was beyond compare challenging," he said.
"But actually I think in the COVID times in this Government there were moments you were talking life and death in decisions you were making.
"I remember that time [when the Delta wave was discovered] I was talking to Grant Shapps, he was [Britain's Transport] Minister, and he was telling me they just found about this wave and it's coming and really worrying.
"Times like that, they were scary," he added.
Minister Ryan said while the COVID Inquiry will come up with things "we could and should have done differently", he believes the Government "by and large" approached it in the right way.
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