Hackett confident as Green Party leadership voting opens
As voting opens in the bid to succeed Eamon Ryan as leader of the Green Party, Offaly’s Pippa Hackett says that she’s confident that party members will support her to become leader of the party.
The leadership race is a ‘one member, one vote’ election and the Geashill-based Minister and Senator has been busy travelling across the country and canvassing the party faithful in her bid to out-poll her competitor Roderic O’Gorman.
“It’s been very hectic, but the recent Local and European elections represented a very clear message from the voters to our party that while they believe in the need for dramatic action to address climate change and creeping inequality, in rural Ireland in particular they simply haven’t endorsed our vision and our policy platform,” Hackett said this morning.
“Simply put, we have to listen, and adapt. That’s why I’m moving mountains and travelling widely to establish what our candidates and members heard back from voters during the recent election campaign, and to put that together with the very clear feedback we got from the electorate here in Offaly as well.
“I don’t want to fall into the trap of believing that if people didn’t vote for us, that’s because we didn’t communicate well, or because they were misinformed. The average Irish voter understands politics, they understand climate science, they understand the economy and they vote according to who they feel has the best solutions for the issues they face every day,” she said.
“In my opinion, this contest will determine if the party becomes purist and irrelevant, or practical and influential. My message to Green Party members is that under my guidance we can have a fresh focus and a new direction that will take us where we need to go, but will be people focused, and it will really reflect what people said to us during the recent election campaign about local employment, housing, transport, roads, energy costs, and the myriad of other issues that affect people on a daily basis.
“My job right now is to show the country that the party can listen, work with the public and give people a clear path to live Green. So far, members seem to be encouraged by that.”
The election opens today (Thursday) and the winner will be announced on Monday, July 8.