Locals on the streets of inner-city Dublin were almost unanimous on Sunday that veteran criminal Gerry Hutch’s support in the general election was rooted in a sense they have been the subject of deep-seated neglect in the corridors of Leinster House.
“Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t,” said 42-year-old Joy Partridge, who lives on Buckingham Street in the north inner city where Mr Hutch purchased his first property in the 1980s. “That was the way we looked at it.”
Several passersby in and around Summerhill expressed disappointment shortly after it became clear Mr Hutch would not win a seat.
A number of people also said it had been “obvious” he enjoyed significant support in and around the city centre.
Ms Partridge said “everyone around here” voted for Mr Hutch. “We believe, especially living around here, that he’s for the people and he will listen to them,” she said. “They called Gerry Hutch a criminal [in the Dáil], but he’s no worse than what’s already there. They can’t really talk.”
Asked whether she had any concerns about his past, she replied: “Absolutely not. If anything, the life he’s led, and the fact he’s from around here and lived among us, made it all the more reason to vote for him.”
Joanne Malone (46), coming out of a Spar shop in Summerhill with a loaf of bread under her arm, said Mr Hutch was trusted in the community.
“He’s not afraid to say what he wants to say,” she said. “He’s believable, and in fairness, all the ones that we’ve had in so far, what have they done? I know Gerry has done bad in the past, but he has to be better than what’s already in.
“Everyone is so sick of the likes of Simon Harris and Micheál Martin and all these others. They speak a certain way. They promise you this and they promise that. They make out they are so much better than everyone else, and nothing ever changes.”
Ms Malone said neglect of the area was behind the support for Mr Hutch. “There’s no housing and people can’t get a place to live, and yet there are boarded-up properties everywhere,” she said. “Gerry Hutch is the first one who actually mentioned that.
“The north side has always kind of been forgotten about, hasn’t it? I’m living in Dublin 20 years. Even the buses on this side are shit compared to the southside. The bins – everything. People are fed up with it. I mean, look at this place?”
A 33-year-old woman from Ballybough, who also said she would be uncomfortable providing her name, said she gave Mr Hutch her first-preference vote. Asked whether he would have been an effective TD, she paused and said he would have “rocked the boat”.
“He would have shook it up a bit at least and come in with a fresh set of eyes,” she said. “Not the political eyes that the rest of them are in there with.”
She added that “everybody has a past”, and that the election was about “moving forward”.
Andrew Molloy (64), who has lived on Rutland Street for 30 years, said he felt Mr Hutch’s decision to run had cost Independent candidate Malachy Steenson a seat. “I voted for Malachy because he’s a friend of mine,” he said. “It’s a bit of a shame.”
Mr Hutch “would be well thought of in the area”, he said. “People wouldn’t have a bad word to say about him, despite what the media say.”
A man (70) smoking a cigarette outside the Bridge Tavern on Summerhill Parade, where Mr Hutch’s election poster is displayed in the front window alongside a poster of the late Tony Gregory, declined to give his name. “No, Jesus no, I’ll get myself into trouble,” he said.
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