{"id":444662,"date":"2026-05-12T08:31:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T08:31:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/444662\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T08:31:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T08:31:10","slug":"left-wing-candidates-on-trail-in-dublin-central-byelection-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/444662\/","title":{"rendered":"Left-wing candidates on trail in Dublin Central byelection \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI have one question for you,\u201d Helen Breslin, a resident of the North Strand, tells Green Party<\/a> Dublin Central byelection <\/a>candidate Janet Horner. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen are cyclists going to obey the rules of the road?\u201d<\/p>\n

Horner starts to answer before Breslin adds \u201cit\u2019s treacherous\u201d, outlining places nearby where she has observed cyclists not stopping at red lights. <\/p>\n

Green Party leader Roderic O\u2019Gorman<\/a> \u2013 along for the canvass on a sunny Wednesday afternoon \u2013 replies that there is \u201ca lot of bad behaviour on our roads\u201d from cyclists, motorists and pedestrians.<\/p>\n

Horner, a Dublin city<\/a> councillor, adds: \u201cThere\u2019s a cultural element on our streets where people are just rude to each other.\u201d Breslin says she believes there has to be a penalty for this.<\/p>\n

The candidate says she agrees \u201c100 per cent\u201d, before being called over to meet the next potential voters by her team on the fast-moving campaign trail.<\/p>\n

Breslin joked at Horner\u2019s departure, \u201cno offence \u2013 I\u2019ll keep the top man [at the door]\u201d to which O\u2019Gorman replies: \u201cI want the top woman [Horner] in with me after this election. It would be great to have the two of us there [in the D\u00e1il].\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Gorman was the only Green TD to survive the party\u2019s near electoral wipeout in 2024 after a stint in coalition with Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael. Cabra-based Neasa Hourigan lost the party\u2019s seat in Dublin Central at that stage. <\/p>\n

The party leader chats further with Breslin on various topics. She says afterwards that there is still a question mark over who she will vote for, but she does not rule Horner out.<\/p>\n

\"GreenGreen Party candidate Janet Horner speaking to Eimear McCann with five-week-old Margaret while canvassing in North Strand, Dublin.
\nPhotograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill\/The Irish Times <\/p>\n

She is one of a crowded field of left-wing candidates vying for one seat in the left-leaning constituency. The vacancy arose after Fine Gael\u2019s Paschal Donohoe resigned his seat late last year to take a job with the World Bank in Washington. <\/p>\n

Lord Mayor of Dublin Ray McAdam is hoping to retain the seat for Fine Gael, while Cllr John Stephens is flying the flag for Fianna F\u00e1il, in former taoiseach Bertie Ahern\u2019s old stomping grounds.<\/p>\n

The sitting TDs in the four-seat constituency are Sinn F\u00e9in leader Mary Lou McDonald, Gary Gannon of the Social Democrats and Marie Sherlock of the Labour Party, who narrowly took the last seat ahead of veteran criminal turned Independent politician Gerry Hutch.<\/p>\n

Garda\u00ed in court have described Hutch as the figurehead of the Hutch crime gang involved in the Kinahan-Hutch feud. He was cleared of the murder of David Byrne during a Hutch gang attack at the Regency Hotel in 2016. The Special Criminal Court said it was satisfied he was in control of the three AK-47 rifles used in the attack. He is running again in a diverse constituency that encompasses disadvantaged and gentrified areas from the north inner city to Cabra and Drumcondra to the north. <\/p>\n

\"GerryGerry Hutch election posters at the junction of Buckingham Street Upper and Se\u00e1n MacDermott Street Lower in Dublin\u2019s inner city. Photograph: Alan Betson\/The Irish Times<\/p>\n

The candidates The Irish Times joined on canvasses said housing and the cost of living are the main issues being raised on the doorsteps. <\/p>\n

The conventional wisdom is that Sinn F\u00e9in\u2019s Janice Boylan, a councillor, should romp home in her party leader\u2019s backyard.<\/p>\n

However, there has also been speculation \u2013 in the absence of any published constituency-specific opinion poll so far \u2013 that Cllr Daniel Ennis of the Social Democrats is a frontrunner among the left-wing candidates.<\/p>\n

Three of his rivals \u2013 Horner, Labour\u2019s Ruth O\u2019Dea and People Before Profit\u2019s Eoghan \u00d3 Ceannabh\u00e1in \u2013 do not, unsurprisingly, accept this view. <\/p>\n

Horner says there have been some \u201cnarrow\u201d assumptions around Dublin Central, including that the north inner city \u2013 Ennis\u2019s home patch \u2013 defines the entire constituency. She finds it \u201cfrustrating reading weak media narratives\u201d about the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I\u2019ve got a very strong record as a representative for this area,\u201d she adds. <\/p>\n

Her pitch to voters is that she has been a councillor since 2019, working on issues like social housing, regeneration of derelict areas and safer streets.<\/p>\n

At a national level, Horner says she would be a \u201cstrong voice\u201d for investment in public transport, renewable energy to bring down costs for households, and care for people \u201cat all life stages\u201d. She highlights childcare as another big issue in Dublin Central.<\/p>\n

Across the constituency, O\u2019Dea, a first-time candidate, is knocking on doors in Stoneybatter. She is joined by party leader Ivana Bacik and a team including former leaders Alan Kelly and Joan Burton, party general secretary Billie Sparks, former Dublin Central TD Joe Costello and Cork North Central TD Eoghan Kenny. O\u2019Dea is adamant that the outcome is not a foregone conclusion.<\/p>\n

\"Labour'sLabour’s Ruth O\u2019Dea with Party leader Ivana Bacik canvassing in Stoneybatter, Dublin.
\nPhotograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill\/The Irish Times <\/p>\n

\u201cNobody owns that seat, and that\u2019s what I hate. People say it to me as well on the doors, \u2018oh yeah, you\u2019re going for Paschal\u2019s seat\u2019,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s not Paschal\u2019s seat, it\u2019s not Dan\u2019s [Ennis\u2019s] seat, it\u2019s not [Janice] Boylan\u2019s seat, okay?\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Dea says it is up to the voters to choose. \u201cI happen to think that I will be their best representative because I understand the issues, because I\u2019ve been around for a while,\u201d she adds. \u201cI\u2019m a mother. I\u2019ve worked in Women\u2019s Aid. I\u2019ve seen how, when people are left behind, how difficult it is and I\u2019ve supported people in the worst times to get back their life.\u201d<\/p>\n

She now works in sitting TD Sherlock\u2019s constituency office and says she is \u201csupporting people every day on housing \u2013 you know, people who are about to become homeless\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an open match. Anyone can take this seat.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Dea highlights her record while chatting to one man who answers his door, Jack King. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0What the Dublin and Galway byelections could tell us about the future of Irish politicsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Bacik chipped in with the argument that the byelection is \u201ca good opportunity to send a message to Government that more needs to be done to support households, PAYE workers, people who have been left behind. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe saw that in the recent protests,\u201d the party leader adds.<\/p>\n

King, who is undecided on who he will vote for, afterwards says: \u201cI don\u2019t know if Labour is the top of the list but I\u2019ll give them my consideration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Further down the street Geraldine Halpin, a member of a local school\u2019s parents\u2019 association asks O\u2019Dea how they can get a zebra crossing for children walking home across a \u201chair-raising\u201d road. The candidate offers some advice on the matter. <\/p>\n

Halpin remained another undecided voter, for now.<\/p>\n

\"PeoplePeople Before Profit candidate Eoghan \u00d3 Ceannabh\u00e1in talking to Margaret Lonergan in Stoneybatter, Dublin. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill\/The Irish Times <\/p>\n

Later in the evening, People Before Profit\u2019s \u00d3 Ceannabh\u00e1in, a musician, is also knocking on doors in Stoneybatter with his team.<\/p>\n

He ran in the local and general elections in 2024 and achieved a respectable vote, but fell short of taking a seat.<\/p>\n

\u00d3 Ceannabh\u00e1in was involved in a 2021 campaign opposing the building of a hotel on a Smithfield site that includes the traditional music venue, the Cobblestone Pub. Dublin City Council ultimately refused planning permission for the project.<\/p>\n

More recently, he was involved in efforts to keep The Complex, an arts centre in the same part of the city, open. <\/p>\n

Both campaigns are highlighted to potential voters on Wednesday as he also tells people he is active on housing and climate issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I get elected I\u2019ll use my platform basically to build grassroots campaigns in communities,\u201d he tells one woman who will not be around to vote on polling day, and to \u201cfight for a different kind of housing system, for action on the cost of living\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u00d3 Ceannabh\u00e1in adds: \u201cFundamentally I think we need a change from Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael.\u201d<\/p>\n

At another door, artist Margaret Lonergan tells \u00d3 Ceannabh\u00e1in she \u201cchanted behind you\u201d at one of the demonstrations during the campaign to save The Complex. They discuss a shortage of publicly owned work spaces for artists in the city.<\/p>\n

She says she will \u201cdefinitely be voting left\u201d but is yet to decide on a specific candidate.<\/p>\n

\u00d3 Ceannabh\u00e1in\u2019s pitch for her number one vote includes how People Before Profit wants a left-wing government. <\/p>\n

Lonergan says that would be good, but points out that past experience suggests the left \u201cstruggles to unite\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u00d3 Ceannabh\u00e1in says the presidential campaign of former Independent TD Catherine Connolly is a \u201cgreat example\u201d of parties of the left working together.<\/p>\n

He tells The Irish Times that People Before Profit \u201chave a really strong campaign\u201d in Dublin Central and his chances \u201cshouldn\u2019t be written off, absolutely not\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI have one question for you,\u201d Helen Breslin, a resident of the North Strand, tells Green Party Dublin…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":444663,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[190511,3656,943,615,895,3775,70422,8934,42,3662,3657,6189,3658,43,774,30645,3582,3415,1419,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-444662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-byelection","tag-catherine-connolly","tag-cost-of-living","tag-dublin","tag-fianna-fail","tag-fine-gael","tag-gerry-hutch","tag-green-party","tag-headlines","tag-housing-crisis","tag-ivana-bacik","tag-labour-party","tag-mary-lou-mcdonald","tag-news","tag-paschal-donohoe","tag-people-before-profit-alliance","tag-roderic-o-gorman","tag-sinn-fein","tag-social-democrats","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=444662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444662\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/444663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=444662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=444662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=444662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}