Leinster House’s Green Party politicians gathered on the plinth to welcome their newest member, Senator Pippa Hackett, today.
Ms Hackett got the new role when she went up unopposed for the recent Seanad by-election caused by the election of her colleague, Grace O’Sullivan, to the European Parliament.
Ms Hackett is a Green activist and, a bit unusually, a beef farmer.
The Seanad by-election is a unique mechanism whereby there is no normal election, just a poll of sitting TDs and senators.
For this election, all of the other parties recognised that it was ‘one out, one in’ for the Greens and so nobody went up against the Green nomination.
It is not always the tradition, but this time it was observed.
Speaking about her political aims on entering Leinster House, Ms Hackett said: “Irish agriculture is at a crossroads.
“We either continue along the road of rising emissions and biodiversity breakdown, rising production costs and volatile global markets, or we take the right decision to take another road; a road which puts our small, quintessentially Irish, family farms first.
"We could do so much better.
“It’s time our government started listening to other voices within the sector. A meaningful transition is required, and by adopting nature- and biodiversity-friendly, regenerative farming practices, we can shape a brighter, more promising future for our young farmers.''
