The Galway Green Party has selected its candidates to run in the next local election, which will take place in 2024.
Cllr Martina O’Connor in the Galway City Centre, Cllr Niall Murphy in Galway City West and Cllr Alastair McKinstry in Connemara South will all run in the areas where they are sitting councillors.
They will be joined by four party activists, Eoin Madden, Megan Flynn Dixon, Islammiyah Saudique-Kadejo and Joyce Mathias who will contest seats in Athenry-Oranmore, Gort-Kinvarra, Tuam and Galway City East.
Their candidacies were officially launched on Saturday in the Green Party Office in Woodquay.
In Galway City East, Joyce Mathias is a Nigerian, who migrated to Ireland 21 years ago and sees Ireland as home now. A post-graduate in the University of Galway where she studied strategy, innovation and people management, Mathias advocates for social justice in Ireland, as well as her native Nigeria.
Her humanitarian work in Nigeria includes visits to rural schools to motivate the students on benefits of education, while she also visits prisons to advocate for those wrongfully imprisoned. In Ireland she has fundraised for LauraLynn, Mater Foundation, Pieta House, Mental Health Ireland and Trócaire.
Megan Flynn Dixon, who contests the Gort-Kinvara electoral area, is an equality, diversity and inclusion consultant with a background in international business.
Originally from New Zealand, Flynn Dixon worked in for several international shipping companies and has been based in Australia, Singapore, USA, and Canada. She now applies her managerial skills to achieving equity for the most vulnerable people across Ireland.
Megan has volunteered locally in education, the arts and refugee support services, and is migrant activist, having studied at the Immigrant Council of Ireland Migrant Leadership Academy.
Islammiyah Saudique-Kadejo is the Green Party candidate in Tuam, and holds a Masters in Gender, Globalisation and Human Rights from University of Galway.
She founded GOCOM Radio, Ireland’s first ethnic minority/marginalised group interest community radio station in 2021, having founded Amdalah Africa Foundation in 2019, a charity organisation dedicated to promoting justice, recognition, and representation of women of African descent. She is also on the board of Galway City Community Network.
With 20 years experience in radio broadcasting, public speaking, event host, charity work, community outreach and writing, Saudique-Kadejo has motivated some 15,000 women, girls, and youths to maximise their potential.
Eoin Madden is the candidate for Athenry-Oranmore, well known for promoting organ donation and is a voluntary board member of the Irish Kidney Association, Ireland’s largest patient-led organisation.
A mentor at Athenry CoderDojo, who also trains children at the local hurling club, Madden is involved in the Killimordaly Community Centre, and for more than a decade has championed a progressive stance on many issues, speaking for climate action and LGBTQI+ rights. In 2015 Eoin led the Yes Equality campaign in Athenry, amd ran in the local election as the only pro-choice candidate.
Now chair of the Galway Green Party , Madden works as a software development manager, and believes the Green Party is a progressive alternative voice for rural county Galway.
Contact information for all candidates is available at www.galwaygreens.ie
