What you need to be a Green senator

AS a member of the Green party I wish to congratulate our newest senator, Mark Deary from Louth, on his recent appointment to the Seanad.

Here he joins our other two senators, Niall O’Brolcháin and Dan Boyle, surely a great achievement for such a small party, and what makes it even more significant is that none of them has had to face the rigours (and uncertainty) of a Seanad election, but have been appointed by the Taoiseach.

However, this does raise one very important question. What was the basis for their selection? As far as I can see, what sets these three apart from other equally qualified members of the party is that they were all defeated candidates in the last general election, gaining on average about one-third of a quota in first preferences.