The Green Party today announce their nominations for Seanad Éireann in the upcoming elections.

Cllr Pauline O’Reilly will represent the party on the Labour panel, Senator Pippa Hackett will run on the Agriculture panel and Saoirse McHugh will run on the Cultural and Educational panel.

Cllr Pauline O’Reilly, from Galway, said:

“I am honoured to have the opportunity to bring a fresh perspective to the Labour panel, one that represents the work of carers in society. A councillor on Galway City Council, having previously worked as a solicitor, I have set up a new national school, a community pre-school, and I founded a national organisation that speaks about the value of unpaid caring labour.

“I am also the Green Party Spokesperson on Children and sit on numerous boards of management in the Arts, Education, and Social Justice spheres.

“Now, more than ever, the most vulnerable need a voice.”

Sen Pippa Hackett, from Offaly, said:

“As the Green Party’s Spokesperson on Agriculture, Heritage and Animal Welfare, I am delighted to get my Party’s nomination to contest the Seanad Election for the Agricultural Panel.

“I am a mother, a wife, a farmer, a community campaigner, and a busy person who gets things done. Farming beef and sheep in Co Offaly close to the Laois border, I know first-hand the difficulties faced by farming and rural communities. In the Midlands, in particular, we face unique problems which require action at a national level, and at a scale never seen before.

“How we protect our environment, and deal with the climate and biodiversity crisis, will be the defining issue of this decade, and the Seanad needs informed and practical voices on this issue.”

Saoirse McHugh, from Mayo, said:

“Ireland has entered a new stage politically; it is more important than ever that social justice and environmental protection form the basis of legislation going forward. We have a huge opportunity to improve people’s lives as we respond to avert climate breakdown.

“It will be important to ensure that legislation both protects our environment and addresses the inequalities in our society. The Seanad, while well overdue reform, is an important part of our legislature and we need law makers at every level who are committed to addressing social inequities as we tackle our intertwined climate and biodiversity crises.”

Green Party Leader Eamon Ryan said:

“I’m delighted that the party is putting forward such strong candidates for the Seanad. Each has a huge amount to offer both as representatives for their various panels but also wider public life.

“We need Green thinking in the Seanad now more than ever. The next decade will be critical to delivering the kind of change we need to tackle climate breakdown, nature loss and growing inequality.”

NOTE TO THE EDITOR

Cllr Pauline O’Reilly

Pauline O’Reilly is currently a stay at home parent and a councillor for Galway City West and is a qualified solicitor who works extensively with local and national community groups. She is the Green Party spokesperson for Children and Youth Affairs. She has set up a new national school, community pre-school and founded a national organisation that speaks about the value of unpaid caring labour. In her role as a councillor she has been a strong voice for sustainable development, safe green spaces and a healthy environment for children. She has advocated for real energy reform and support for the new industries of solar and wind energy, and effective transport policies to improve the liveability of our towns and villages.

Sen Pippa Hackett

Senator Pippa Hackett holds a BSc in Agriculture from the University of Essex, a postgraduate diploma from University College Dublin, and a PhD from the University of Limerick. She took leave from academic research and lecturing to raise her family. She lives on a mixed organic farm (suckler cows, sheep, hens and horses) with her husband Mark and four young children, near Geashill in Co Offaly, close to the Laois border. She’s activity involved in many community-based and schools projects in both counties. These roles include youth club secretary and leader, local newsletter editor, Mountlucas parkrun director, and board member of local sports committees.

Saoirse McHugh

Saoirse McHugh holds a BSc in Genetics from UCD and an MA in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security from Lancaster University, with a focus on the politics of food production, and went on to work with the Irish Seed Savers Association in Clare where she became acutely aware of the fragility of our food system. This led her to get involved with Food Sovereignty Ireland, and she is also on the committee of the Organic Growers of Ireland. She has engaged with the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food) on creating a proposal for a Common Food Policy for the EU to replace the Common Agricultural Policy. She has been working with the community environment legal defence fund (CELDF) in the US on the possibility of getting a ‘Rights of Nature’ bill into the Irish constitution and has been relentlessly campaigning on issues such as climate change, community resilience, and biodiversity loss.