Former MEP Clare Daly has announced she will be running as a candidate in the general election but in Dublin Central and not in her former Dublin North constituency.
In a long post on X on Thursday morning, Ms Daly said she had chosen to stand in a new constituency under the Independent 4 Change banner because her political colleague Cllr Dean Mulligan was running in Dublin Fingal East.
Ms Daly also said she had been contacted by a number of activists in Dublin Central who had asked her to stand as an independent socialist candidate.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald and Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe are TDs in the four-seat constituency as are Gary Gannon of the Social Democrats and Neasa Hourigan of the Green Party.
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Ms Daly was elected to the European Parliament for the Dublin constituency. She failed to retain the seat in the parliamentary elections this year.
She and her left-wing colleague, South MEP Mick Wallace, courted controversy when in Brussels in relation to their stance on Russia, and its invasion of Ukraine.
They voted against a resolution in the European Parliament calling for the establishment of a tribunal to prosecute Russia’s leadership for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.
There have been reports in recent weeks that Ms Daly has been assembling a team for the general election.
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In the statement, Ms Daly said “Dublin Central has a long history of fearless Independent TDs who were not afraid to speak up and speak out for their community, in the tradition of Tony Gregory and Maureen O’Sullivan.
“That approach is needed now more than ever, as the city is neglected and communities feel abandoned. I have a long track record as a serious organiser from my student days,” she said.
“I have a reputation for taking up issues before they were popular, be it abortion rights or Garda reform. I have an international profile as an anti-war and pro-Palestine advocate.”
She said she had thought “long and hard” about the move, having been a public representative in Dublin North for 25 years.
“Many people, from all over the country, expressed the hope that myself and Mick Wallace would return to the Dáil. Like many, I am deeply concerned at the direction the country is going.”
Ms Daly indicated she had got the backing of a number of prominent activists in the area, including former TD Maureen O’Sullivan, Cllr Cieran Perry and former MEP Patricia McKenna.
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