‘If you back a horse, you must consider your money gone’

PIPPA Hackett is a Green Party politician and senator. Although she missed out on the final seat in the Laois-Offaly constituency in the general election earlier this month, she secured the sixth-highest number of votes in that constituency.

She lives with her husband Mark and four young children near Geashill in Co Offaly — close to the Laois border.

What’s the most important lesson about money which your political career has taught you?

Money talks, but does it always deliver? Election promises of increased spending in this sector or that were rife in recent weeks. Yes, money is important — but making it the most important aspect of our lives removes the focus from many other pleasures that life should bring. For me, quality of life should be the most important thing — and that does not always need money to deliver.

The best advice you ever got about money?

My husband is a bookmaker’s son. He always said that if you back a horse, you must consider your money gone; and that if it turns up trumps, then all well and good. But you must be prepared to lose.

Speculating to accumulate always comes at a risk.

The most expensive thing about being a parent?

We have four children aged from eight to 16, so costs vary. However, the older they get, the more expensive they become. The main expenses would relate to education and extra-curricular activities such as piano lessons. We are still a couple of years away from third-level education, but this is something we certainly need to start saving for.

What’s the most expensive country you ever visited?

I was in Bahrain once as part of an athletics team. Most goods were incredibly expensive. I paid something like €20 for a small bag of tea to bring home as a gift. We were reluctant to drink it in the end as each cup had cost a fortune!

What’s either the best or worst thing financially about living in rural Ireland?

One of the best things is that food scraps can be tossed out on to the grass and they will be gone by morning. I keep meaning to set up a wildlife camera to film whatever is eating it. The worst is the necessity to drive everywhere.

What’s your favourite Irish coin?

I love all of the ones that featured animals — it’s something I would like to see back on our coins. I remember when the 20p coin came out — it featured a horse, an Irish hunter. A joke went around that it had to be recalled, because they forgot to put the saddle on its back!

What was your worst job?

Cleaning out ashtrays while working in the Hairy Lemon during my postgraduate time at UCD.

What was your biggest financial mistake?

I naively bought a brand-new car in 2007, which we had to sell a couple of years later for a third of the price. Never again!

What was your best financial killing?

I have always loved horses and when I met my husband, we started to dabble in the thoroughbred sector, buying a foal or two each year and selling them the following year. In 2004, we bought a colt foal in Goffs for €9,000, and sold it the following year for €92,000 at the Goffs Million sale. It set us up for a successful decade of breeding and producing a small number of thoroughbreds, and we have been ever grateful for that.

If you won the Lottery, what would you do with the money?

I would clear my mortgage and invest in sustainable options on our farm. I would love to develop agritourism options on our farm, and to have it set up for visitors and school tours.

Have you ever made an insurance claim?

I once made an insurance claim from another company, when a JCB struck my car. I was in it at the time, and it struck my rear passenger-side window.

What was the last thing you bought online? Canvassing cards.

Would you buy Irish property now?

We are farmers and we always have a wishful eye on any land coming up for sale — but no, I couldn’t see us buying any land any time soon.