Greens select Northside coastal candidates

The Greens have selected their general election candidates on the north coast of Dublin. 

Veteran councillor David Healy has been chosen as the party’s candidate in Dublin Bay North, marking his 6th attempt at a Dáil seat.

Healy ran as the Green candidate in Dublin Bay North in 2020 and ran a previous four times in the precursor constituency, Dublin North East.

Of his Dáil bids, Healy’s most successful attempt came in 2020 where he secured 7% of first preferences amid a strong nationwide performance for the Greens.

On that occasion, Healy was the final candidate eliminated.

More recently, Healy emerged as the Greens’ only survivor on Fingal County Council as the party tumbled from five seats to one.

Healy saw his share of the vote nearly 10% compared to 2019, when he was elected on the first count alongside future Social Democrats TD Cian O’Callaghan, Fianna Fáil’s Eoghan O’Brien and Labour’s Brian McDonagh.

Despite the substantial drop in vote share, Healy held onto his seat in Howth-Malahide in June with 7.6% of first preferences.

Dublin Bay North will see something of a redrawing of the local political map, with two of the current TDs (Sean Haughey of Fianna Fáil and Richard Bruton of Fine Gael) announcing they will not be seeking re-election and Labour’s Aodhán Ó Ríordáin recent election to the European Parliament has necessitated Labour needing a new Dáil candidate.

2020’s poll-topper, Denise Mitchell of Sinn Fein, is assumed to be seeking re-election, with O’Callaghan confirmed as the Social Democrats candidate in July, and Fine Gael running Aoibhinn Tormey and Naoise Ó Muirí in a bid to win two seats.

Independent councillor Barry Heneghan, who won a seat on Dublin City Council in June thanks to the backing of former TD Finian McGrath and Clontarf political mainstay Damian O’Farrell, also announced his Dáil candidacy in July.

Dublin Bay North straddles the line between Fingal County Council jurisdiction and Dublin City Council jurisdiction, with the Clontarf, Donaghmede and Artane-Whitehall local electoral areas falling under Dublin City Council boundaries and Howth-Malahide coming within the remit of Fingal County Council.

The Green vote in Clontarf and Donaghmede all saw drops compared to 2019.

In 2019, the vote shares in the electoral areas were 14.4% and 8.2% respectively.

In 2024, the share of the vote dropped to 8.5% and 2.6%.

Artane-Whitehall, the other local electoral area covered by Dublin Bay North, saw the Greens fail to win a seat with 6.1% of the vote.

Donna Cooney, current Deputy Lord Mayor of Dublin, held onto her seat in Clontarf, albeit with a reduced majority.

Elsewhere along the coast, Ian Carey will appear on the ballot for the Greens in the newly-created Dublin Fingal East. 

The “group of death” will see Carey attempt to win a seat for the party in the newly created constituency, while Joe O’Brien will attempt to hold onto his seat in Dublin Fingal West.

Dublin Fingal East has already seen Darragh O’Brien of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael’s Alan Farrell and Labour’s Duncan Smith declare their candidacy in a razor-thin three-seater.

Carey was among the Greens to lose their seat in June after losing out in Swords.

Swords saw Independents4Change councillor Dean Mulligan (himself a past general election candidate) top the poll with 15.2% of the vote and exactly 2,000 first preferences.

Carey saw his share of the vote drop from 10.5% in 2019 to 6.4% in 2024.

Swords elected an electric mix of councillors, ranging from the aforementioned Mulligan with Independents4Change, two independent councillors winning seats in the form of Joe Newman and Darren Jack Kelly, Fianna Fáil’s Darragh Butler and Fine Gael’s Luke Corkery being elected on the first count alongside Mulligan, while Labour’s James Humphreys and Sinn Féin’s Anne Graves rounded out the 7-seater.

Indeed, the only mainstream party not to get a look-in by the Swords electorate were the Greens.