Madden lives in rural Athenry and is passionate about building a sustainable future. He received a kidney transplant in 2022. His priorities are public transport, health, and safer roads.

As a dad of three young children and a healthcare activist, I see the need for progressive pragmatic representatives in rural Galway, who aren't afraid to speak out for the environment and against the multinational fossil fuel industry.

I coach CoderDojo and hurling and I'm a secretary of my local playground and PRO of the local Community Alert. At a national level, I'm a voluntary director of Ireland's largest patient-led charity. I'm running because I'm a bogger from Galway East, who loves my home and wants our county to adapt and thrive in a rapidly changing world. Nobody else is talking about climate and biodiversity. Locally, we are facing a crisis in housing, traffic, healthcare and now climate chaos and biodiversity collapse. I provide a different viewpoint to all the other candidates. I want to tackle the big issues of our time and represent rural communities with my effort, optimism and empathy.

Housing, water quality, transport and healthcare are all connected to poor planning and wasteful spending. Many of our issues are actually caused by a lack of forward planning and decades of underinvestment in infrastructure, such as water, primary care and public transport.

We are also facing rapid loss of nature and climate unpredictability. 40 years ago, we had 1.7m wild salmon in Ireland, now we have about 170,000. People contact regularly to say that companies and public utilities are treating our waterways, the Clare river in particular, as open sewers.

It is not too much to expect that people be provided affordable warm homes, in secure welcoming communities, free from air pollution, linked to amenities by footpaths and decent transport. We can make this a reality through effort, optimism and empathy.

The genocide in Gaza would appropriately be the most urgent item to speak on. The people of Galway East are rightly aghast at the plight of Palestinian children. Many conflicts are fuelled by greed for power, land or oil. I will consistently speak against the pernicious fossil fuel companies. I will be a champion for our communities and the countryside we live in.