Well-known activist to stand for Greens in Cork

Well-known environmental campaigner Quentin Gargan is to contest the general election for the Green Party in the three-seat Cork…

Well-known environmental campaigner Quentin Gargan is to contest the general election for the Green Party in the three-seat Cork South West constituency.

The Irish Timeshas learned that Mr Gargan, a co-founder of the campaign group Genetic Concern, which opposed the introduction of genetically-engineered (GM) foods in Ireland, will formally announce his candidacy in Bantry on Monday.

Mr Gargan (50), who moved to west Cork from Dublin in 1999, joined the Green Party three years ago.

Fianna Fáil currently has two seats in Cork South West, held by Denis O'Donovan and former minister for agriculture Joe Walsh. The third seat is held by Fine Gael justice spokesman Jim O'Keeffe.

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Mr Walsh is not contesting the election and Fianna Fáil has still to hold a selection convention to decide on its line-up. It is expected that Bandon-based councillor, Alan Coleman, will join Mr O'Donovan on the ticket, while there is also speculation that Independent councillor Christy O'Sullivan may contest the election for Fianna Fáil.

For the 21 years leading up to the last general election, Cork South West had returned two Fine Gael deputies and one from Fianna Fáil, but Fianna Fáil won a second seat in 2002 at the expense of Fine Gael's PJ Sheehan.

Fine Gael will be fighting to regain its second seat. Labour Senator Michael McCarthy will contest this year's election and is considered a strong candidate.

A Green Party source said the party felt it had a chance of winning the third seat in Cork South West if there was any national swing to the Greens, and given the fact that Mr Walsh is retiring.

"It will be an uphill battle, but Quentin Gargan is a very strong candidate and seasoned environmental campaigner," the source said.

It is understood that Mr Gargan will focus his campaign on global warming and the country's preparedness for oil depletion and eco-tourism in west Cork. He lives on a farm five miles from Bantry with his partner, environmental campaigner Clare Watson, in an eco-house powered by a wind turbine and solar panels.

In 1996, he and Ms Watson founded Genetic Concern. Ms Watson failed in a High Court case against Monsanto and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in an effort to prevent GM sugar beet trials.

In 2003, Mr Gargan and Madeline McKeever were arrested for selling home produce on the street in Skibbereen. This led to a court case in which it was found that their market stalls were legal.

He recently launched Ecologics, a business distributing solar water heaters throughout Ireland. Last summer, he became involved as a spokesman for Bantry Concerned Action Group, a campaign highlighting the dangers of overhead power lines.