Pippa Hackett enters contest for Green Party leadership

Senator Pippa Hackett has announced her candidacy for leader of the Green Party in the wake of Eamon Ryan's resignation.

A two-party race is now underway as TD and Minister for Children and Integration Roderic O'Gorman also announced his bid to be the new leader of the Green Party this Wednesday morning, June 19.

It follows Minister Ryan's shock announcement on Tuesday that he is stepping down as leader, and will not be contesting the next general election.

Senator Hackett, who also is a Minister of State for Land Use and Biodiversity, declared her intention to run on Newstalk's The Hard Shoulder this Wednesday evening.

"I am delighted to say that I am putting my name forward. I can be that fresh start that our party needs."

"I'm a sheep farmer, I'm also a mother, I've also been a cabinet minister for the past four years," she explained.

"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."

The Laois/Offaly senator has been already backed by Minister for State Ossian Smyth and Green Senator Pauline O’Reilly, who enrsed her Seanad colleague on Virgin Media’s Ireland AM show saying it is important for the party to broaden its appeal outside Dublin.

Minister for State and Dublin TD Joe O'Brien had also been tipped to run for leader, but he has since announced he will not be running, backing Minister O'Gorman's bid instead.

In his statement announcing his bid, Mr O'Gorman cited his experience in eight elections as "councillor, TD and minister", and promised party members he would commit to "deliver policies that make a positive impact in people’s lives", a united party", and "a leadership that always listens, always engages, and values the hard work and dedication of every constituency group."

This all follows from the shock announcement in front of the Dáil yesterday afternoon from Eamon Ryan, who said he was "stepping down to pass the torch to a new generation of leaders."

This was followed by a further shock announcement from the Greens deputy leader, and Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin saying that she too would "step back" from her role.

Under the Green Party constituition, any party member can contest the leadership if they have the support of 50 other party members, meaning in theory (but unlikely) the new party leader could be someone not serving in the Oireachtas.

Some 4,000 members of the Green Party will be eligible to vote for their new party leader when the election takes place in the coming weeks.