One year on from the collapse of the “Progressive Alliance” to run Dublin City Council, Sinn Féin councillor Daithí Doolan has said the door is still open for Labour and the Greens to join.
Last June, an attempt was made by Sinn Féin and the Social Democrats to bring Labour and the Greens into a left-wing coalition on Dublin City Council.
The alliance also had the backing of People Before Profit’s two councillors as well as the backing of independents such as Cieran Perry and future TD Barry Heneghan.
The talks famously collapsed after a disagreement over the issue of property tax, and Labour and the Greens teamed up with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to run Dublin City Council between 2024 until the next set of local elections in 2029.
32 seats are needed for an overall majority on Dublin City Council: a combined grouping of the Soc Dem (10 seats) Sinn Féin (9 seats), the Greens (8 seats) and Labour (4 seats) would have 31 seats.
At last June’s meeting of Dublin City Council, the alliance proposed North Inner City Social Democrats councillor Daniel Ennis as the candidate; this year, it will be the turn of Sinn Fein’s South-East Inner City councillor Kourtney Kenny.
Future Fine Gael TD James Geoghegan was named Lord Mayor of Dublin at last June’s meeting, Fine Gael’s first time in the role since 2012, and that role was taken up by Emma Blain following Geoghegan’s election to the Dail last November.
Doolan, Sinn Féin’s group leader on Dublin City Council, called on Labour and the Greens to walk from their coalition with Fianna Fail and Fine Gael.
“Sinn Féin are central to the Progressive Alliance on Dublin City Council. We have worked with our Alliance partners to hold the Fianna Fail/Fine Gael led ruling group to account. We continue to reach out to both the Labour Party and the Green Party and encourage them to join with us in the Alliance,” he said.
“Monday’s election is a great opportunity for Labour and the Greens to join with the Progressive Alliance and vote for councillor Kourtney Kenny.”
Discussing Kenny’s credentials, the veteran Sinn Féin councillor described Kenny as “a true blue Dub who has committed herself to working with others to improve the quality of life for everyone.”
“Kourtney represents the best of who we are, she represents the politics of change and progress,” Doolan said.
“Dublin is a great city. Full of energy and opportunity. It has a long and proud history of rebellion, literature, and arts. Sinn Féin firmly believe it can be an even better city. The future belongs to those who plan for it,” the Ballyfermot-Drimagh councillor said.
Kenny said she was “honoured” to receive the nomination to be the mayoral candidate, and said, “I am delighted to have received support from the parties of the Progressive Alliance.”
“I would appeal to both the Green Party and Labour Party councillors, asking that they support me on Monday night.”
Kenny said “their ongoing support for Fianna Fail and Fine Gael in Dublin City Council is both opportunistic and hypocritical. They cannot keep speaking out both sides of their mouths, challenging the government in Leinster House and supporting them on Dublin City Council. “
“The housing crisis is the biggest challenge facing Dublin. The government have failed utterly to work with Dublin City Council to provide council and affordable housing. This makes it very even more important that the parties of opposition stand together and stand up for Dublin.”
To Kenny’s point, the current Dail term has seen the rise of the “Combined Opposition” where Sinn Féin, Social Democrats, Labour, the Greens and People Before Profit (along with Aontú and Independent Ireland) all banding together to hold the government to account on issues such as Gaza and school places.
“Monday’s Lord Mayor election gives us the opportunity to do just that by electing a mayor that will stand up for Dubliners and make housing the number one issue,” she said.
Speaking to this newspaper recently, former Green TD and MEP Ciáran Cuffe said there is a need for further co-operation on the Irish left.
He said “I would put the Greens, Labour and the Social Democrats in there; I’d like to include Sinn Féin in there, but sometimes I scratch my head. Some days, they’re in the far-left corner; other days, they are madly populist.”
“It will take a while to get clarity on where Sinn Féin are aligned, but certainly, co-operation between centre-left parties is hugely important in the years ahead with the rise of the far-right.”