Your Green voice in Muinebheag
Over the past 12 months, we have more than doubled our party membership in our constituency. Join me and other like minded people now to help make a real difference locally and nationally. Together we can make a better town, county, country and planet to enjoy!
Bagenalstown born and bred, I spent some years studying and working abroad before returning to my home town. I enjoyed growing up in Bagenalstown and now can’t think of any better place where my wife and I can raise our two sons. Lots of time spent on the road going to matches, lots of time too spent by the Barrow walking our excitable cockapoo, Gino. I am a retired secondary school principal by profession and feel privileged to have spent my career in education, engaging and working with young people in their growth and development.
The importance of community is one of my strongest held values. I immersed myself in the local community on returning and have been involved in many aspects of community life since; Bagenalstown Pitch & Putt Club, St. Patrick’s Day Committee, Chairperson of Bagenalstown Festival Committee, Town Twinning Committee. I am currently Environmental Officer with Bagenalstown Improvement Group, actively involved with my Residents’ Association, treasurer of Bagenalstown AFC, Parish Yearbook committee member and secretary to Bagenalstown Sustainable Energy Community. Through my activism, I have been very successful in obtaining grants for local organisations over the last couple of years in particular.
I value the role of public representation at all levels of our democratic system. I am proud to have served a Muinebheag Town Councillor from2004 – 2014. I worked hard to serve all in the community and to make a contribution in as many areas as possible. I campaigned to retain local services such as the post office. I was also instrumental in obtaining major funding for the McGrath Park sports complex and the children’s playground area in the Fair Green.
Like so many us over recent years, I became increasingly alarmed and angry at the scale of destruction to our ecosystems and environment. There were times also, when I felt despondent and saddened by the seemingly hopeless prospects for recovery. I decided I needed to act positively rather than accept a catastrophic inevitability. I joined the Green Party in 2019 and have been active in the party since that time. Our actions count, at local, national and international level. Our relationship with nature needs to change, our economic model needs to be fundamentally altered and above all, humanity’s willingness to act as a united entity must gather pace. The Green movement is making a difference locally and in government. It is also in the ascendant internationally. I hope that as many as possible decide to act proactively, as I did, and join the Green Party. We are all important and we can all make a difference.
My Priorities
Rejuvenation of our town centres
Build on our natural and built heritage and reimagine our town centres to enable them to prosper into the future
Tackle vacancy & dereliction
Work collaboratively with Carlow County Council to tackle the scourge of vacancy and dereliction
Develop sustainable energy resources
Support local communities to explore and exploit opportunities to create more sustainable communities
Further develop community facilities
Advocate for and support local groups in developing their sporting, family and mental health facilities
Sustainable rural transport system
Advocate for further enhancement of sustainable rural transport services
Tackle the biodiversity crisis
Work with Carlow County Council and local communities to fight back against the current biodiversity crisis
Latest News
My work on the ground
Meet our local Green Party TD, Malcolm Noonan
For over 30 years, I've been a volunteer, activist and Councillor, dedicating my life to advancing principles of sustainable development, community empowerment and equality in Irish society.
As Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform and T.D. for Carlow-Kilkenny, I'm working tirelessly for an Ireland where healthy, resilient ecosystems teem with wildlife, where historic buildings and monuments are conserved and made accessible to all, and where the electoral process is more transparent, accountable and fair.
Our Story
The Green movement was born when we looked back on our planet for the first time and realised the threat we posed to our own natural world. It recognised the need for thinking globally, while acting locally.
The movement found political form in the late 1970s and early 1980s as Green parties were set up in just about every country. In Ireland, the Green Party (then known as the Ecology Party of Ireland) was formed in 1981 by a group of people with a vision for an Ireland that planned for the long-term and protected our island’s natural beauty.
We currently have 12 TDs and 4 Senators in the Oireachtas, two MEPs and two MLAs (Members of the Legislative Assembly) in Northern Ireland. We also have 49 elected councillors working in local areas around the island. Local groups around the country play a vital role in organising meetings and events, canvassing and fundraising.
How
we work
We are a collaborative political party, willing to work with all other parties to effect positive change. We stand up for our convictions and ask the right questions, so that big ideas can be progressed and that decisions do not go through on the nod.
Our goal is to deliver a just transition, which protects our natural world and brings a fairer economic model for everyone. The future role for the Green Party is to help with the practical measures that deliver this transition.
Our party is highly democratic, and members make key decisions regarding party policy, candidates for election, and rules on how the party operates. Our Constitution, available to read here, has been developed over 30 years and can be amended annually by members at our Annual Convention. Our party Executive Committee, Treasurer and Trustees are also elected each year at Annual Convention.
If this sounds like something you would like to be involved in why not join us today!
Our seven founding principles
1. The impact of society on the environment should not be ecologically disruptive.
2. All political, social and economic decisions should be taken at the lowest effective level.
3. As caretakers of the Earth, we have the responsibility to pass it on in a fit and healthy state.
4. Society should be guided by self-reliance and co-operation at all levels.
5. Conservation of resources is vital to a sustainable society.
6. The need for world peace overrides national and commercial interests.
7. The poverty of two-thirds of the world’s family demands a redistribution of the world’s resources.
Check out some of our ideas
Society
An equitable, healthy and just society that upholds rights and values diversities.
Environment
An environment thriving through stewardship and recognition of its invaluable finite resources.
We are a party of diversity
The Green Party is fortunate to enjoy a diverse set of members, from all walks of life, collaborating in our vision for a better Ireland. As part of this diversity, the Green Party has several affiliate groups including:
Young Greens
The youth section of our party – the Young Greens/Óige Ghlas – was founded in 2002 and is open to all members aged 30 and under, or in full time education.
The Young Greens have contributed enormously to the growth and direction of the wider party – from being the first youth political section to adopt a platform of support for equal marriage in 2002, to fighting hard and succeeding in a campaign against the imposition of third level fees in 2009, to guiding the wider party into full support for women’s bodily autonomy and reproductive rights in 2015. The Young Greens main operation is based out of Dublin, however, there are subgroups set up all over the country, including Rural Young Greens, UCC Green Party, NUIG Green Party, Trinity Green Party and Northern Ireland Young Greens.
Mná Glasa
From our very foundation, women have been thinkers, drivers and deliverers of the Green movement’s main objectives. The Green Party is a proudly feminist party, and together we seek to safeguard, promote and expand women’s equal participation in politics and every fora of social, economic and scientific activity.
The Green Party Women’s Network (Mná Glasa) exists to give a forum to women, men and nonbinary people to discuss the key objectives that help us deliver this vision, and how best to implement them. To get in touch with the Chair of Mná Glasa, simply email mnaglasa@greenparty.ie.
Queer Greens
From fielding the first openly gay party candidate for Dáil Éireann, to being the first to make equal marriage core party policy north and south, the Green Party has always stood firm for LGBTI+ advancement.
Today we are continuing that fight for equal marriage in Northern Ireland, pushing for Trans* and Nonbinary recognition & healthcare, and seeking modern reforms to sex education.
The Queer Greens seek to give a focus for LGBTI+ party members who want to advance issues of concern to our elected representatives, to discuss policy and to maintain our links with the European Queer Green Network. If you’d like to know more, you can contact queergreens@greenparty.ie
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