Dairy farmer from Cork declared a candidate of Lucinda Creighton's new party

Jason joins candidates Lucinda Creighton and Eddie Hobbs, among others, to get behind the new political party that was named on Friday as Renua and was formerly referred to as Reboot Ireland.

Previous to his current roles Jason worked in the construction sector in Cork. He is the chairman and co-founder of Irish Farmers with Designated Land, an interest group set up to increase compensation given to farmers who have land which is the native habitat of the hen harrier.

Jason is concerned with rural affairs, agriculture and agri-business. He believes that there needs to be a re-allocation of CAP funding to support marginalised farmers and that more needs to be done to encourage young farmers to stay within the agri-industry.

On its website, renuaireland.com, the party says its vision on agriculture and enterprise is that "farming is at the heart of Ireland’s identity. RENUA believes that agriculture and small rural enterprise are the foundation of the regeneration of rural Ireland. Independent communities are only sustained by economic self sufficiency."

Candidacy decision making process

All members of the party may apply to be candidates and when members sign the ‘code of ethics’ and complete an application process, they become declared candidates.

All declared candidates will then undergo a ‘fitness and probity’ test and shall be interviewed and evaluated under clear criteria. The top candidate from each constituency are selected and they become the nominated candidates.

Nominated candidates are voted on by the national membership, and if accepted they become the party candidate.