Sinn Féin pick Boylan as by-election candidate

Sinn Féin members have selected North Inner City councillor Janice Boylan as the candidate for the upcoming Dublin Central by-election.

Boylan, who was Mary Lou McDonald’s running mate in the 2024 general election, saw off competition from Gillian Sherratt.

It is understood that Sherratt was the preferred candidate of McDonald, but there were major reservations about Sherratt, from Clondalkin, running as a candidate in the North Inner City without having held public office.

There was a belief within McDonald’s circle that Sherratt was the preferred candidate of the Sinn Féin leader, owing to Sherratt’s advocacy for disability rights, and the party wanting to turn the by-election into a de facto referendum on the government’s handling of disability issues.

Sherratt came to national prominence as a critic of Simon Harris, with Sherratt painting Harris as a manifestation of the failed Irish healthcare system, which caused the death of her son, Harvey Morrison Sherratt.

Morrison Sherratt passed away while waiting for surgery for scoliosis; in 2017, when Harris was Minister for Health, he claimed that “no child” would be waiting longer than four months for scoliosis surgery – the child was placed on a waiting list for the surgery in February 2022 and passed away in July 2025 after not receiving the surgery.

Despite McDonald’s preference for Sherratt to be the candidate, local members backed Boylan to be the candidate.

Boylan, by contrast, has been a councillor for the North Inner City constituency since 2014.

Among local Sinn Féin members, there was a sense that Boylan was “due” another chance at a Dáil seat, noting that her being a running mate for McDonald in the 2024 general election, as well as her decade-plus experience as a councillor, made her the best-suited candidate.

The by-election, triggered by the resignation of Fine Gael minister Paschal Donohoe, is expected to take place on Friday, May 22, the same day as the by-election in Galway West (with the Galway West by-election triggered by Catherine Connolly’s victory in the presidential election).

The opposition parties are attempting a clean sweep of the four Dáil seats; at present, three of the four seats were won by Sinn Fein, the Social Democrats and Labour at the 2024 general election.

The Social Democrats will be running councillor Daniel Ennis, as the party looks to win two seats in the same constituency for the first time in the party’s history, and Labour selected local activist Ruth O’Dea on March 2nd.

Fianna Fáil Senator Mary Fitzpatrick has announced she will not be running as the party’s candidate, with Cabra-Glasnevin councillor John Stephens likely to get the nod for the party as they look to win back a seat that hasn’t voted for the party since the 2007 general election; the party has chosen Minister Darragh O’Brien as their director of elections.

Fine Gael will hold their convention on March 23, with all signs pointing to Lord Mayor Ray McAdam being the party’s candidate; Dublin Rathdown TD Neale Richmond has been named as the party’s director of elections.

Among the opposition, Green councillor Janet Horner will attempt to win back the seat lost by Neasa Hourigan in the 2024 general election, People Before Profit will run 2024 general election candidate Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin, and Aontú are running their 2024 candidate Ian Noel Smyth.

The independent vote will see right-wing councillor Malachy Steenson and gangland figure Gerry Hutch attempt to tap into the historical anti-government, independent vote in the area.