Dubliners feature heavily in new Labour front bench

Fresh off their best election result since 2011, Labour has announced their new front bench for the new Dáil term.

Lead by Dublin Bay South TD Ivana Bacik (who will also serve as the party’s spokesperson on Northern Ireland), Dubliners feature heavily in the party’s new front bench.

Announcing the new line-up, Bacik said “Labour is a party of deep roots and green shoots. Recent election results reflect the momentum behind our candidates, reflected in the make-up of our new Oireachtas team.”

Bacik’s reference to “green shoots” is a reference to the party winning Dáil seats at the expense of the Greens; Marie Sherlock’s win in Dublin Central owed a lot to the collapse of Neasa Hourigan’s vote, Ciaran Ahern’s victory in Dublin South-West came at the expense of Noel Francis Duffy and Rob O’Donoghue’s win in Dublin Fingal West came at the expense of Joe O’Brien.

In the lead-up to the November election, Labour’s manifesto was ranked as the most environmentally friendly manifesto out of any of the major parties by Friends Of The Earth.

With 11 TDs, 56 councillors, an MEP and two Senators to their name, Labour now finds itself with it’s largest political representation since the Gilmore Gale blew them back into office.

“As our Oireachtas representation continues to expand, we are confident that we can continue to push for radical change through offering robust opposition, and through holding the government to account,” Bacik said.

The aforementioned Ahern will serve as the party spokesperson on climate, environment and energy and transport, which will see him face off against Fianna Fáil minister Darragh O’Brien on that front.

O’Donoghue will serve as the party spokesperson on arts, media, communications, culture and sports, as well as agriculture, food, fisheries and the marine.

In the former case, his government rival will be Fine Gael’s Patrick O’Donovan and in the case of the latter brief, he will face off against Fine Gael’s Martin Heydon.

O’Donoghue’s Fingal counterpart Duncan Smith will serve as the party whip as well as the party’s spokesperson on foreign affairs and trade as well as defence; that will make Tánaiste Simon Harris his government counterpart.

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, who became Labour’s first European candidate to win a seat since 2009 last June, will serve as the party’s spokesperson for Dublin.

Sherlock will serve as the party’s spokesperson on health, putting her in contention with Fine Gael’s Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill.

Outside Dublin, former party leader Alan Kelly will now serve as the party spokesperson on justice, home affairs and migration issues, while Louth TD Ged Nash will remain the party spokesperson on finance.