Sinn Féin on the double in Dublin Bay North

Sinn Féin will run two candidates in Dublin Bay North in the upcoming general election.

Incumbent TD Denise Mitchell will be joined by councillor Mícheál Mac Donncha on the ballot.

The pair were confirmed at a selection convention on Thursday night.

Mitchell topped the poll in Dublin Bay North in the 2020 general election with just shy of 30% of first preferences, while Mac Donncha recently won re-election in Donaghmede in June’s local elections.

Mac Donncha said “so, Simon, bring it on, we are ready.”

“If you want to end the disastrous domination of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael then you must vote Sinn Féin, and we can play our part in Dublin Bay North by getting two Sinn Féin TDs elected,” he said.

Mitchell was first elected in the 2016 general election when Mac Donncha also served as her running mate on that occasion.

Sinn Féin’s duo means that 15 candidates will now be competing in the highly competitive five-seater, with the possibility of this year’s cohort of candidates surpassing the 18 candidates who stood for election in the area in 2020.

Three of the five TDs who were elected in the 2020 general election will not be standing next time around; Fianna Fáil’s Seán Haughey and Fine Gael’s Richard Bruton have announced their retirement while Labour TD Aodhán Ó Ríordáin won a seat in June’s European elections.

Mitchell and Social Democrats deputy leader Cian O’Callaghan will be the only two successful 2020 candidates who will be standing for re-election.

Dublin Bay North is shaping up to be a clash of the titans with Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and now Sinn Féin all running two candidates each.

Fianna Fáil will be running Tom Brabazon and Deirdre Heney, Fine Gael will be running Aoibhinn Tormey and Naoise Ó Muirí and now Sinn Féin will be running Mitchell and Mac Donncha.

Other notable candidates on the Dublin Bay North candidate include left-wing independent councillor John Lyons, who declared his candidacy in late September, and independent Clontarf councillor Barry Heneghan, who has received the backing of former independent TD Finian McGrath.

Labour will be running Mac Donncha’s former Donaghmede election rival Shane Folan in the seat, the Greens will be running veteran councillor David Healy, while a smattering of other independents such as Kevin Coyle and Diarmaid Ó Conoráin as well as Aontú’s local election candidate James Morris will also be vying for a Dáil seat.