Offaly senator speaks of 'unique problems' facing Midlands

The Green Party have selected outgoing Senator Pippa Hackett to contest the upcoming Seanad Elections on the Agricultural Panel. She joins just two other Green candidates - Cllr Pauline O’Reilly (Galway) on the Labour Panel, and Saoirse McHugh (Mayo) on the Cultural and Educational Panel.

“Now that the dust has settled on the General Election, I would like to thank every one of the 3,494 voters who gave me their first preference vote, and the three and a half thousand who gave me a high preference. I am ever grateful to my small but mighty teams across the constituency, and we are set on building the party around Laois and Offaly over the next few months and years," Pippa said.

"As a sitting Senator and the Green Party’s Spokesperson on Agriculture, I have been actively involved in the exploratory talks our Party initiated with all political parties and independent groupings. To date, we have met with Fine Gael, Fianna Fail, Sinn Fein, Social Democrats, and a few Independents, and hopefully, we will meet with the Labour Party soon. 

“As a beef and sheep farmer living between Mountmellick and Geashill, I know first-hand the difficulties faced by our farming and rural communities. In the midlands, we face unique problems, and these require action at a national level. We are dependent on peat, we are subject to devastating flooding, and our towns and villages are becoming increasingly degenerated as people travel further away to live and to work.

“Having been elected to Offaly County Council in May, I consider myself very fortunate to have been elected to the Seanad last November in the byelection. However, that was a short-lived experience, and I intend to get back into Leinster House and getting stuck into the many issues that face us here in the Midlands. 

"Laois and Offaly are painfully unrepresented in the Seanad – and with only three candidates running across the five vocational panels to fill 43 seats, I would urge our county councillors and TDs to consider this deeply when they cast their vote between March 16-30. 

“How we nurture and protect our natural environment will be one of THE defining issues of this decade, and how we do that as a nation will affect us all. The Seanad needs informed and practical voices to deal with this matter effectively to help secure the economic, social and environmental future of its rural regions in particular.