Pippa Hackett (born 8 January 1974) is an Irish

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

politician who served as a

Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine A Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and the Marine is a junior ministerial post in the Department of Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and the Marine of the Government of Ireland and assists the Minister for Agricul ...

from June 2020 to January 2025. She was one of three

Ministers of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior ministers ...

in attendance at cabinet, but without a vote. She was a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for the

Agricultural Panel The Agricultural Panel is one of five vocational panels which together elect 43 of the 60 members of Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Oireachtas (the legislature of Ireland). The Agricultural Panel elects eleven senators. Election Article 18 ...

from November 2019 to January 2025.

Political career

Hackett joined the Green Party in around 2016, upon the recommendation of a neighbour of hers,

Christopher Fettes Christopher Fettes (born 1937 in England) is the founder of the Irish Green Party. A former teacher and a County Offaly farmer, he is also an honorary member of the International Vegetarian Union and of the World Esperanto Association. Life ...

, the party founder. At the 2019 local elections, she was elected to

Offaly County Council Offaly County Council () is the local authority of County Offaly, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and community, roads and transportation, urban planning and ...

for the

Edenderry Edenderry (; ) is a town in east County Offaly, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is near the borders with Counties County Kildare, Kildare, County Meath, Meath and County Westmeath, Westmeath. The Grand Canal of Ireland, Grand Canal runs along ...

Area. She was elected unopposed, as a Senator for the

in a by-election on 1 November 2019. The vacancy was caused by the election of Senator Grace O'Sullivan to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

in May 2019. She was an unsuccessful Green party candidate for the Laois–Offaly constituency at the 2020 general election, coming sixth in the five-seat constituency, with a total of 4,255 votes in the final count. At the 2020 Seanad election on 30 March, she was re-elected to the Agricultural Panel. On the formation of a new government on 27 June 2020 between

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland. Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...

Fine Gael Fine Gael ( ; ; ) is a centre-right, liberal-conservative, Christian democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil Éireann. The party had a member ...

and the Green Party, she was appointed as

with responsibility for Land Use and Biodiversity. She became the first senator to be appointed as a Minister of State and is one of three Ministers of State attending cabinet, a position commonly known as a super junior minister. On 24 March 2021, Hackett was one of three Green Party senators to table a

motion of no confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...

against party chairperson

Hazel Chu Hazel Chung-fai Chu (born 3 November 1980) is an Irish Green Party politician who has been a member of Dublin City Council since May 2019. She was chair of the Green Party from December 2019 to December 2021. She was the first Irish-born person ...

, after Chu announced her candidacy in a Seanad

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

as an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

. On 19 June 2024, Hackett announced her candidacy in the Green Party leadership election following the resignation of

Eamon Ryan Eamon Michael Ryan (born 28 July 1963) is an Irish former Green Party politician who served as Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications and Minister for Transport from June 2020 to January 2025, and was Leader of the Green Par ...

. A focal point of her campaign was improving the party's reputation among rural voters, claiming the party had an "image problem". She received several high profile endorsements, including from

Brian Leddin Brian Leddin (born 1979/1980) is an Irish Green Party politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Limerick City constituency from 2020 to 2024. He was appointed Chair of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action in September 20 ...

Ossian Smyth Ossian Smyth (born 1971/1972) is an Irish Green Party politician who served as a Minister of State from July 2020 to January 2025. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dún Laoghaire constituency from 2020 to 2024. Smyth holds a Bachelor of Arts ...

and Steven Matthews. She was defeated by

Roderic O'Gorman Roderic O'Gorman (born 12 December 1981) is an Irish Green Party politician who has served as leader of the Green Party since July 2024. He has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin West constituency since 2020. He previously served as Mini ...

who received 984 votes to her 912 votes. She was an unsuccessful candidate for the

Offaly County Offaly (; ) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in honour of Philip II of Spain ...

constituency at the

2024 general election This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. * 2024 United Nations Security Council election * 2024 national electoral calendar * 2024 local electo ...

Early life and education

Hackett was born in

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

, but is a native of

Ballindine Ballindine () is a village in County Mayo, Ireland. It is located along the Western Railway Corridor, 6.5 km (4 miles) south of Claremorris. The N17 road passes through the village, carrying over 10,000 vehicles daily, and it connects ...

County Mayo County Mayo (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, County Mayo, Mayo, now ge ...

. During her time in Britain, she studied Equine Science at

Aberystwyth University Aberystwyth University () is a Public university, public Research university, research university in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding member institution of the former federal University of Wales. The university has over 8,000 stude ...

and Agriculture at the

University of Essex The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, it is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. The university comprises three camp ...

. Back in Ireland, she studied a Postgraduate Diploma in Equine Science at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

in 1996, and gained her

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in Sports Biomechanics at the

University of Limerick University of Limerick (UL) () is a Public university, public research university institution in Limerick, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Founded in 1972, as the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick, it became a university in Septemb ...

Personal life

Hackett lives on a farm in

County Offaly County Offaly (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is named after the Ancient Ireland, ancient Kingdom of Uí ...

near Geashill with her husband Mark, whom she met at university in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, and their four children. Her husband was co-opted to take her seat on Offaly County Council. Her son, Charlie, ran unsuccessfully in the 2024 local elections.

References

External links

Pippa Hackett's page on the Green Party website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hackett, Pippa 1974 births Living people Alumni of Aberystwyth University Alumni of the University of Essex Alumni of University College Dublin Alumni of the University of Limerick Green Party (Ireland) senators Members of Offaly County Council Politicians from County Mayo Members of the 25th Seanad Members of the 26th Seanad 21st-century women members of Seanad Éireann Ministers of State of the 33rd Dáil Women ministers of state of the Republic of Ireland Green Party (Ireland) candidates in Dáil elections Green Party (Ireland) local councillors Agricultural Panel senators