Laois Offaly Minister seeks Green Party leadership
Minister Pippa Hackett says she can make the Green Party "relevant and relatable" inside and outside of Dublin
Laois Offaly Minister Pippa Hackett has announced her intention to run for leader of the Green Party.
She told Newstalk’s Kieran Cuddihy that she can make the party “relevant and relatable” in Dublin and rural Ireland.
“I am delighted to say that I am putting my name forward to be the next leader of the Green Party. I think Eamon’s departure yesterday does give us an opportunity in the party for a fresh start. I believe a fresh start is needed. I believe I can be that fresh start,” she said this afternoon.
“I am not your conventional Green. I live in rural Ireland. I am a beef and sheep farmer. I am also a mother. I have been in Cabinet for the past four years.
The party really has never had a non Dublin leader. We have never had a woman lead the party and I believe my different perspective and certainly my different life experiences can make the Green Party relevant and relatable inside and outside of Dublin,” she said.
A Mayo native, Minister Hackett lives in Geashill, Co Offaly where she farms. She was elected as Offaly County Council's first ever Green Councillor in 2019. Then she was elected to the Seanad unopposed in a bye-election, replacing Grace O’Sullivan who took up a role as an MEP. Minister Hackett failed to win a seat in Laois Offaly in the 2020 General Election.
When the Greens went into Government with Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, she was appointed as Junior Minister at the Department of Agriculture.
Her husband Mark was co-opted onto her Offaly County Council seat. He lost the seat in the Local Elections earlier this month. Her son Charlie, who is 20 and a student in the University of Limerick, ran for a council seat in Laois for the Green Party but also failed to get elected earlier this month.
Minister Hackett has backing within her party including from Dublin-based Junior Minister, Ossian Smyth, Wicklow TD Steven Matthews and Senator Pauline O’Reilly, who is from Galway and is the party’s chair.
Dublin based Minister Roderic O’Gorman has also announced his intention to seek the leadership of the Green Party. He too has support from within the party to take over the leadership.
It’s unclear yet if other members of the party will enter the race to become the next Green Party leader.