Lyons announces fresh Dublin Bay North Dáil bid

Independent Left councillor John Lyons will be hoping to make it third time lucky in his bid for a Dáil seat.

The Artane-Whitehall councillor announced that he will be contesting the upcoming general election as an independent in the 5-seater.

Lyons contested the 2016 general election as a member of the Anti-Austerity Alliance/People Before Profit electoral alliance in 2016, attaining 6% of first preferences, and attained 2.6% of first preferences when he ran in 2020.

In 2020, Lyons ran as Independent Left but was marked as an independent on the ballot paper.

For his third Dáil bid, Lyons will be running as an independent, non-party candidate.

More recently, Lyons won his third straight term as a member of Dublin City Council, topping the poll in Artane-Whitehall.

Lyons was first elected to Dublin City Council as a member of People Before Profit in the old constituency of Beaumont-Donaghmede in 2014, before switching to Artane-Whitehall in 2019.

Lyons’ poll-topping performance in Artane-Whitehall in June 2024 saw him receive more first preferences than any other candidate on the ballot, taking in 9.3% of the vote.

Announcing his third run at a Dáil seat, Lyons said “it’s been a real honour for me over the last 10 years to represent communities across Dublin Bay North,” but said it has become clear that “far, far too many people are struggling because of the decisions made by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.”

“I see it everyday; the lack of affordable housing, the cost of living crisis, our hospital waiting lists, the inadequate resources dedicated to mental and addiction services.”

“I see children with additional needs and their families being failed by this government on so many levels.”

“These are choices being made by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in government.”

“I want to help create a fairer, more caring and inclusive society, in which the nation’s resources are used to meet the needs of everyone, those of us born and bred and more recent arrivals too.”

Lyons joins a packed Dublin Bay North candidacy list; he will face off against Social Democrats deputy leader Cian O’Callaghan, Fine Gael’s two candidates Aoibhinn Tormey and Naoise Ó Muirí, fellow independent councillor Barry Heneghan, Fianna Fáil’s two candidates Deirdre Heney and  Tom Brabazon as well as Green councillor David Healy.

Sinn Fein and Labour have yet to announce who will be running for them in the 5-seater.

The constituency will be one of the main battlegrounds at the next general election, and the departure of three heavy hitters – Richard Bruton, Fianna Fáil’s Sean Haughey and newly-minted Labour MEP Aodhán Ó Ríordáin – means that this 5-seater will be one of the most competitive constituencies in the battle to form the next Dáil.