The Green Party have announced that two more candidates will contest for a County Council seat at the Local Elections in June.
Last year, Ballinakill native Rosie Palmer announced she would run in the Portlaoise area.
And the party now has representation in all three areas with Charlie Hackett to run in Graiguecullen-Portarlington and Fiona Dunne in the Borris-In-Ossory-Mountmellick area.
Charlie Hackett, from Geashill in Offaly, is 20-years-old and is studying in University of Limerick.
He is the son of current Green Party Senator Pippa Hackett who is also Minister of State for Land Use and Biodiversity in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
While Fiona Dunne is living in Abbeyleix and works with the parliamentary team for Minister Hackett. She is also a part-time teacher and a heritage specialist.
She has have served on boards for the government, NGOs, schools and a range of other community programmes.
She is currently the chairperson of the Abbeyleix Bog Project and a member of Abbeyleix Tidy Towns.
Both of their candidacies were announced by Minister Pippa Hackett today.
She said: “I am delighted to announce this brilliant news for Laois.
“Fiona Dunne is a Laois local with extensive experience of working in the voluntary and community sector who will be a great asset to the Borris in Ossory/Mountmellick area.
“Her passion and drive for local vibrant communities and for nature will deliver in spades for people in this area, and across Laois.
“Charlie Hackett will run in the Graiguecullen/Portarlington area.
“While our young people are very interested in environmental issues and rightly concerned about climate change, engaging young voters is never easy, so having Charlie, who is currently a student in UL, is a great boost to the Laois team.”
Both candidates will join Ballinakill woman, Rosie Palmer, who is running in the Portlaoise area.
Minister Hackett said: “Having candidates in all three electoral areas offers real choice to voters and an opportunity to get a strong green voice into local politics.
“It is so important to be able to build on the work that hardworking communities across Laois are engaged in; and we know from other counties with elected green councillors that this makes a significant difference at local level.”
