Profile: Brian Stanley (SF)

Set for a second successive term as a TD having first gained election in 2011, Brian Stanley was Sinn Féin's spokesman on the environment and local government during the last Dáil. Originally from Borris-in-Ossory but now based in Portlaoise where he has a strong base of support, Stanley previously served as a member of Laois County Council and held the roles of council vice-chairman as well as mayor of the now-defunct Portlaoise Town Council. He has been part of Oireachtas committees on environment, culture and Gaeltacht as well as finance, public expenditure and reform. According to his own party profile he maintains "direct involvement in the ongoing campaign for Irish independence and all Ireland integration", and is chairman of the Treo Nua centre for education, training and development in Portlaoise.