Green Party launches Achill islander as European candidate
THE Green Party has announced that 28-year-old Achill islander Saoirse McHugh will contest the upcoming European Parliament elections in the Midlands-North-West constituency for the party.
A farmer and an environmentalist, Saoirse sits on the boards of the Organic Growers of Ireland and Food Sovereignty Ireland and has worked on various agricultural projects throughout Central America and with the Irish Seed Savers Association in Co. Clare.
She holds a masters degree in Sustainable Agriculture, and was involved with proposals to create a Common Food Policy for the EU and add a ‘Rights of Nature’ bill to the Irish constitution.
She has campaigned on climate change, community resilience and biodiversity loss.
Saoirse said: “My message is clear and simple – changes are coming and if we don’t take control of them, we will be hung out to dry.”
Living on Achill Island, Saoirse is well aware of the challenges facing rural communities.
“The issues in Achill are different to those in Castlebar, but often the solutions are the same. If communities can begin to imagine and push for the environmentally sustainable future we need, we can grow and thrive, environmentally, socially, and economically. This won’t just happen; we have to make it happen. We have to own the change.
“The EU has the scale and scope to deliver on policies which can really benefit the people of Midlands North West, and Ireland as a whole, but they need to be implemented. We’ve got Brexit, rural decline, climate breakdown, floods, droughts and storms all on the horizon and it's past time to take action.
“The Midlands North West region will be hardest hit and we need a progressive, Green voice in Europe – to ensure that we're not surviving, but thriving during the upcoming challenges."
"The Green party has been growing steadily in Mayo, there's some very motivated and smart people involved. People I meet are worried about the future and there's an appetite for change. I plan on being part of that change."