Daly announces Dáil run in Dublin Central

Clare Daly has announced her Dáil candidacy for Dublin Central.

Daly, who served as a TD between 2011 and 2019 and an MEP between 2019 and 2024, has announced she will stand in the same constituency as Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald and Fine Gael’s Paschal Donohoe.

She has announced she will appear on the ballot for Independents4Change.

Daly lost her European seat in June, as did fellow left-wing MEP Mick Wallace.

Daly represented Dublin North between 2011 and 2016, and Dublin Fingal from 2016 until 2019, but has moved to Dublin Central.

In a statement on Twitter, Daly explained that fellow Independents4Change politician Dean Mulligan – who topped the poll in Swords in June – will be running in Dublin Fingal East and will be running in Dublin Central instead.

“While recognising these problems, I had handed over work in my area to the excellent poll-topping Councillor Dean Mulligan and felt that he deserved the chance to stand as a TD with my support,” she noted.

“We have record inequality against the backdrop of record wealth; a housing and rents crisis that has forced many to emigrate while plunging others into poverty or homelessness, with affordable secure accommodation denied to even those with relatively decent employment.”

Reflecting on her loss in June, Daly said “many people, from all over the country, expressed the hope that myself and Mick Wallace would return to the Dáil.”

“I was therefore surprised and honoured when contacted by independent activists and public representatives from across Dublin Central who asked me to go forward as an Independent candidate in their area.”

“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 & Maureen O’Sullivan; that approach is needed now more than ever,” she said.

“The city is neglected and communities feel abandoned.”

She noted, “I haven’t got that record on the ground in Dublin Central, but those that do, like Maureen O’Sullivan, councillor Cieran Perry, former MEP Patricia McKenna, East Wall’s Joe Mooney, and others have put their faith in me as the best person to take their struggles into the Dáil, and I am humbled to accept and go forward on that basis.”

“I represented Dublin Central as an MEP and had the pleasure of regularly bringing schools and community groups from the area over to Brussels on educational visits. I lived in the area for many years, in Glasnevin and Phibsborough in my student days, in Stoneybatter as a young worker, and now in Drumcondra. I am honoured to have been asked to be part of the fight to make Dublin Central a better place for everyone that lives there, and to take that fight to the Dáil,” she added.

Daly will face off against the aforementioned McDonald and her running mate Janice Boylan, Fine Gael Minister Donohoe, as well as Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon, Green TD Neasa Hourigan, Fianna Fáil Senator Mary Fitzpatrick,  Labour Senator Marie Sherlock, and independent anti-immigrant councillor Malachy Steenson.