People Before Profit have selected councillor Conor Reddy as their general election candidate in Dublin North West.
Reddy was one of the winners of the competitive Ballymun-Finglas constituency in June’s local elections.
Reddy is no stranger to facing the electorate of Dublin North West, having stood in the last general election in Dublin North West in 2020.
On that occasion, he finished fourth in the competitive three-seater and played a major part in Fine Gael TD Noel Rock losing his seat.
Sinn Féin veteran Dessie Ellis topped the poll in 2020, with 44.4% of first preferences with Reddy a major beneficiary of Ellis’ surplus.
Reddy started out with 3.8% of first preferences but ended up being the last candidate eliminated on the day.
In June’s local elections, Reddy received 8.2% of first preferences which proved to be enough to get him elected in a competitive 6-seater.
More recently, Reddy was part of the negotiating team to form a left-wing alliance on Dublin City Council between Sinn Fein, the Social Democrats, People Before Profit and left-wing independents.
In recent weeks, TD Paul Murphy has seriously floated the idea of a united left-wing front citing similar success by the French left in recent parliamentary elections.
Reddy echoed Murphy’s idea of left unity, saying the idea “has never been more important.”
“Our communities have been neglected and failed by successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments, and now the far-right are now preying on the despair and frustration that government failures have created.”
“In the last election, the call to #VoteLeftTransferLeft came from ordinary people and raised the prospect of a historic left-wing government without Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael. In this election, the left must unite by ruling out a coalition with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael by presenting a common vision that speaks to the deep desire for change felt by working people.”
“If Sinn Féin, the Social Democrats and Left Independents will make that commitment I will urge my supporters to transfer to them and I call on the other left candidates in Dublin North West to join me in this call.”
Last week, it was announced that the Social Democrats will be running academic and housing expert Rory Hearne in the seat.
Hearne himself was himself a past general election for People Before Profit, and has been tapped to hold onto the seat held by Róisín Shortall since 1992.
Reddy has been vocal on his stance on Palestine, seen as an issue that helped People Before Profit stave off Sinn Féin in June’s local elections.
In his Trinity College days, Reddy led the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement on campus, with a 2018 student referendum on the matter passing.
Prior to his election victory in June, Reddy was part of negotiations that led to the end of the student encampment on Trinity’s campus after receiving concessions from Trinity that they would divest from Israeli companies and helped secure a 30% increase in state-funded stipends for PHD students.
Aside from his duties as a councillor, Reddy is in his final year as a PhD candidate in immunology at Trinity’s School of Medicine, researching the effects of stress and trauma on immunity and ageing in the homeless population.
Reddy is no stranger to the classroom so he has given the electorate a homework assignment of their own – “Evict Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.”
“This year, we ran our local election campaign with the slogan ‘Evict Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael’ and we are serious about fulfilling this promise,” he said.
“It’s time to kick out the parties whose policies have devastated our communities and marginalised so many. We should replace them with candidates who understand that radical change is needed to address crises in housing, healthcare and our public services.”
The current make-up of Dublin North West is a Sinn Fein TD (Dessie Ellis), a retiring Social Democrats TD (Róisín Shortall) and a Fianna Fáil TD (Paul McAuliffe).
In Reddy’s own Ballymun-Finglas, the 6-seater consists of Reddy, two Sinn Fein councillors (Anthony Coughlan and Leslie Kane), a Social Democrats councillor (Mary Callaghan), a Fianna Fáil councillor (poll-topper Keith Connolly) and anti-immigrant independent councillor Gavin Pepper.