The Green Party has today (Monday, July 22) selected Senator Pippa Hackett as a candidate to contest the next general election.
Hackett, who is Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) with responsibility for Land Use and Biodiversity, will stand in the Offaly constituency.
She recently contested for the leadership of the Green Party, but lost out to Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth Roderic O’Gorman.
The Dublin West TD has also been selected by the Green Party today to contest the next general election.
The contest to find a new leader of the party arose after the surprise announcement by Eamon Ryan in June that he was stepping down from the role after 13 years.
Pippa Hackett
Originally from Co. Mayo, Pippa Hackett has lived in Geashill in Co. Offaly, close to the Laois border for over 20 years.
Along with her husband Mark and four children, Pippa runs a mixed organic farm on almost 200ac, including suckler cows, sheep, hens and horses.
She was elected to Offaly County council in 2019 and to Seanad Éireann on the agricultural panel in 2020.
When the Green Party entered the coalition government, she was appointed as a minister of state in the department of agriculture and currently sits in Cabinet.
Hackett has a degree in agriculture from the University of Essex, a postgraduate diploma from University College Dublin (UCD), and a PhD from the University of Limerick.
The Green Party has selected 16 candidates to contest the next general election to date, and will continue to select more candidates over the coming weeks.
The candidates were selected by local party members in their constituency.