Labour pick O’Dea as by-election candidate

Labour has picked community activist Ruth O’Dea as its candidate in the upcoming Dublin Central by-election.

O’Dea is a member of local TD Marie Sherlock’s constituency office, but is known in the community as a local activist on a wide number of issues, such as abortion rights, education access, and affordable housing.

Labour failed to win a seat in Cabra-Glasnevin or North Inner City in the 2024 local elections, the two constituencies that make up Dublin Central, but Sherlock’s victory in the 2024 general election, the first time Labour won the seat since the 2011 general election.

O’Dea said, “Labour’s values of fairness, justice and equality shape my life. I spent 11 years in Women’s Aid as Head of Training and Development and I felt proud to play a part in changing how Irish society understands and confronts domestic violence and abuse. As a feminist activist, I campaigned in the 1992 referendums, opposed the repressive 2002 amendment and worked tirelessly to repeal the Eighth Amendment in 2018. I believe in standing up, organising and winning change.”

She added, “every day, I see the huge amount of work that needs to be done across Dublin Central. Families struggle to secure housing, parents fight for school places, and communities feel stretched. I have the experience, energy and insight to mount a strong campaign and to represent the people of Dublin Central.”

O’Dea stated, “I want our city to be a liveable city where people can find safe and affordable homes and no child grows up in sub standard accommodation,” O’Dea added. “Dublin Central deserves better, and Labour will fight to deliver it.”

Sherlock welcomed O’Dea’s selection, saying “Ruth is brilliant; she understands the pressures families face because she works with them every day. She is in touch with the issues on the ground across Dublin Central and she brings energy, compassion and steel to everything she does. She would make an excellent representative for our area.”

“I look forward to hitting the ground running on this campaign with Ruth. Together we will offer a real alternative and take Labour’s message of fairness and equality to every doorstep in Dublin Central,” she said.

O’Dea joins an ever-expanding ballot which includes candidates from the Greens (councillor Janet Horner), the Social Democrats (councillor Daniel Ennis), Sinn Féin (councillor Janice Boylan), People Before Profit (activist Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin), Aontú (2024 candidate Ian Noel Smyth), as well as independent, anti-establishment candidates such as councillor Malachy Steenston and gangland figure Gerry Hutch.

Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are expected to announce their candidates sometime in March.