Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns is doing an “incredible job” campaigning while pregnant, senior party Jennifer Whitmore has said, adding that women must be supported if more are to seek elected office.
With Ms Cairns expecting a baby imminently, deputy leader Cian O’Callaghan has been filling in at national campaign events. She has been active online and in her Cork-South West constituency.
Mr O’Callaghan said Ms Cairns has “played a very strong role in our campaign, especially in the opening stages, and she’s doing huge work online”.
Wicklow candidate Jennifer Whitmore said: “The Social Democrats are really the face of a changing politics in Ireland ... Women have babies, that’s just reality and that’s life, and we have to support them if we want more women to run.
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“We’ve all done our bit. If we want a different kind of politics, we have to work and operate differently.” Ms Whitmore said her party is “living that” and “showing that”.
At a press conference in Dublin Mr O’Callaghan said the Social Democrats are “in the hunt” for Dáil seats in ten or more constituencies.
The Dublin Bay North candidate said the party is “very hopeful” it can retain the six seats and add more.
He said at the start of the campaign Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil were behaving as if the result was “sewn up”, but it is clear now that the outcome is “very much yet to be determined”.
He said there are a “huge amount” of undecided voters, and the party is “also seeing significant momentum behind the Social Democrats”. His party’s message is “resonating” with people and this was highlighted by how support had risen to 6 per cent in Monday’s Irish Times/Ipsos B&A poll.
Former co-leader Catherine Murphy, who is retiring, said the party is confident it can hold her former seat in Kildare North and she predicted gains elsewhere. Asked where this might be, she mentioned Carlow-Kilkenny, Cork East, Cork South Central and Dublin South Central as places where there are “solid campaigns”.
Mr O’Callaghan argued that rival parties, including Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Sinn Féin, are “promising very significant tax cuts and very significant increases in public services and investment and it is simply not possible to do the two”. He said his party will not erode the tax base.
He said if people want change, including affordable housing and childcare and improved disability and health services, they need to vote for his party. “It’s not going to be delivered by parties that are promising to do two contradictory things,” he said.
Labour leader Ivana Bacik has been pushing for a post-election centre-left alliance, including the Social Democrats and the Greens, so they could enter Programme for Government negotiations from a position of strength.
On the proposal, Mr O’Callaghan said: “We’ll talk to other parties after the election, including other centre-left parties. We’re certainly open to doing that.”
He said the Social Democrats would “encourage people to vote left”.
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