Official: Mayo native Pippa Hackett will run for Green Party leadership

Mayo native Pippa Hackett, who grew up in Ballindine, wants to be the next leader of the Green Party, following Eamon Ryan's shock resignation yesterday. The leadership race is in full swing.

Roderic O'Gorman announced his intention to run earlier this morning, Senator Pippa Hackett was tipped to run early on herself.

Then this afternoon Hackett declared her intention to run on Newstalk's The Hard Shoulder: "Yes, I am delighted to say that I am putting my name forward. I can be that fresh start that our party needs."

She explained on the radio show: "I'm a sheep farmer, I'm also a mother, I've also been a cabinet minister for the past four years. And the party really has never had a non-Dublin leader. We've 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."

First elected to the Seanad's Agricultural Panel in March 2020, Senator Hackett was appointed Minister of State for Land Use and Biodiversity at the Department of Agriculture.

She currently lives on a farm in Offaly, with her husband Mark, who is the Green Party's sole representative on Offaly County Council. 

In her early years, she had a passion for horses and show jumping and was a regular performer at the Winter League at Hanley's School of Equitation in Claremorris. She is a past pupil of Mount St Michael Secondary School in Claremorris.

Right now there are two high profile candidates for the successor of Eamon Ryan: Roderic O'Gorman and Pippa Hackett. The Green Party has a proper leadership contest at their hands.