Green party to their charismatic leader Petra Kelly, a German who was of interest to the American media because she had an American step-father. Since its foundation in 1980 and merger with Alliance 90 after the German reunification, Kelly's party, now named Alliance '90/The Greens, has become one of Europe's most important Green parties. It played an important role in the formation of national-level Green parties in other countries such as Spain as well. The forerunner of the Green Party in the United Kingdom was the PEOPLE Party, formed in Coventry in 1972. It changed its name to the Ecology Party in
Green Party (Ireland) regional branch of the party the previous year. It currently has two representatives in the Assembly. The party's first electoral outing was at the November 1982 general election when seven candidates contested under the "Ecology Party" banner, winning 0.2% of the vote. Following a name change, it contested the 1984 European elections, with party founder Roger Garland winning 1.9% in the Dublin constituency. The following year, it won its first election when Marcus Counihan was elected to Killarney Urban District Council at the 1985 local elections. The party nationally ran 34 candidates and won 0.6% of the vote. The party