Purple Rain on Northside following Ennis win

The North Strand has a new TD.

Social Democrats councillor Daniel Ennis was the victor of the May 22 by-election in Dublin Central, marking the first time the Social Democrats have held two seats in the same constituency.

Ennis, first elected to Dublin City Council in 2024 in the North Inner City constituency, was deemed the winner in the early hours of May 24, after nine marathon rounds.

After early tallies on the Saturday morning had Ennis topping the poll ahead of Sinn Féin’s Janice Boylan, the question then became how big the gap would be between first and second.

The marathon day was something of a victory lap for the Social Democrats, as the party won its first-ever by-election victory.

When Ennis arrived at the count centre at 3pm on the afternoon of May 23, there was an air of celebration.

Ennis’ height (befitting of a former footballer) meant he was too tall to be hoisted up onto the shoulders of his supporters, but the mood was no less jubilant.

Party leader Holly Cairns stated, “these by-election results show that when people are looking for an alternative to the government parties, they are increasingly choosing the Social Democrats.”

“As a party, we are clear about our values and our policy positions, so people really know where they stand with the Social Democrats,” she stated.

“I think more and more people are looking for that straight-talking type of politics, a politics that has the courage of its convictions, and these incredible by-election results bear that out.”

All told, 4,263 votes separated Ennis and Boylan, with 3,744 transfers from Green councillor Janet Horner proving decisive.

While he hadn’t formally been elected as a TD when he spoke to the Northside People, Ennis (who said he had never been in a media scramble before), spoke to us about what he hopes to achieve as a TD.

The issue of class was discussed by Ennis on the campaign trail.

In late April, a meeting of all the left-wing candidates was held at the Teachers’ Club; Ennis said that when he started working in the Dáil as a parliamentary assistant to Gary Gannon, he said he considered masking his accent.

He told the meeting, “not many people in Leinster House have my accent,” but said he wanted to serve as “proof” to young people from his area that they could also make it in politics.

Ennis said he was spurred into politics by the anti-immigrant protests in East Wall in late 2022 and early 2023, and said that the protests were not reflective of the area he grew up in.

Ennis recalled an evening, at the height of the protests, where anti-immigrant protesters were shouting racist abuse at some of the young players he was coaching.

The team consisted of younger players from immigrant backgrounds, and Ennis recounted the abuse the players received; he said the encounter was “frightening,” and that was the spark for him to run for office.

Speaking to the Northside People at the RDS, Ennis said, “if you look at us as reps across Dublin Central, nobody works harder or covers more ground than us,” he said.

The Social Democrats now have four Northside TDs – Ennis joins Dublin Central stablemate Gary Gannon alongside Dublin Bay North TD Cian O’Callaghan and Dublin North-West TD Rory Hearne.

O’Callaghan and Gannon were present at the RDS for the majority of the day’s action and offered some insight to the Northside People about Ennis’ campaign.

The selection of Daniel Ennis as the Social Democrats’ candidate was announced on December 16; it took Sinn Féin until February 25, after a highly-publicised row about Mary Lou McDonald not getting her preferred candidate, Gillian Sherrat, became dirty laundry aired in public.

Those 71 extra days on the doors played a “huge part” in the Soc Dems’ electoral success, according to Ennis and Gannon.

Ennis said that “getting out early” and making repeated visits to would-be voters’ doorsteps was the secret to their success.

“It wasn’t just knocking on doors we hadn’t been to in a while, we went back around and checked in; it really did help us.”

“I was just focused on getting to as many doors as possible. It wasn’t about changing minds; it was about meeting people where they were. I wanted to show people that if you trust me and want me to represent you, I would do that to the best of my abilities.”

Ennis’ footballing background (with stints at Bray Wanderers, Bohemians and Shelbourne to his name), is “fundamental” to him.

“Sports very much shaped me. I don’t speak about sport as a game; I speak about sport as a lifesaver. Sports are the reason I am here, and it has saved my friends from going down the wrong road.”

Ennis encouraged anyone who was thinking of running for public office to “go for it.”

“Trust your instinct and know your own strength and know your own confidence. People from disadvantaged areas, where politics has never really worked for them, questioned that; I question myself on that as well.”

Ennis said he hoped to follow in Gannon and Tony Gregory’s footsteps in serving their North Inner City communities.

By-election result tells A Tale Of Two Dublin’s

Gannon, first elected to the Dáil in 2020, said that Ennis’ victory was a result of “authenticity.”

He also revealed to the Northside People that the Soc Dems picked the venue for the selection convention on November 19, the day after Paschal Donohoe announced his resignation.

In the final week of the campaign, the party started to believe that Ennis would top the poll, as the party were getting a “great reception” around the Cabra area in particular.

Results indicate that the Soc Dems made inroads into Sinn Féin’s stronghold in Cabra, but analysts have also noted that Cabra, historically considered a working-class area, has become home to middle-class urban professionals in recent years, much like Stoneybatter.

Analysis of results indicates that Sinn Féin are having issues balancing its traditional working-class republican base with the middle-class progressive vote that turned out for the party in 2020, but has since drifted away from the party.

O’Callaghan was asked whether the Social Democrats were eating into Sinn Féin’s voter base; the Dublin Bay North TD asserted that people “know what our party stands for” in terms of social issues, whereas the same cannot be said of Sinn Féin.

To O’Callaghan’s point, People Before Profit candidate Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin (who improved on his 2024 showing by going from 4.5% to 6.8% of first preferences) told reporters that Sinn Féin are “tailing” the government on issues such as immigration, and that it was up to other parties of the left to “force” Sinn Féin to meet them where they are.

Ó Ceannabháin added that Sinn Féin had “oscillated” on certain issues; People Before Profit voters have shown a preference to give the Social Democrats a higher preference than Sinn Féin in recent years and that was proven to be correct once again.

Of a possible 1853 votes up for grabs from Ó Ceannabháin, 871 went to Ennis, and 430 went to Boylan.

By contrast, when Gerard Hutch’s 4466 votes were distributed, 1,641 went to Boylan.

Independent candidate Gerard Hutch polled best in the North Inner City areas; while Hutch’s second attempt at winning a Dáil seat fell short, the combined result of Hutch and independent councillor Malachy Steenson points to Dublin Central’s historic anti-establishment streak shifting to the right instead of the left.

Indeed, in an Irish Times article published on May 26, a Sinn Féin politician told the outlet that the Social Democrats were “divorced from working-class communities,” with another politician quoted as saying, “I’m not going to take a lecture on left-wing politics from the Social Democrats, with all due respect.”

The last word on class, however, goes to Ennis himself.

He said he hoped to “carve a path” for young people from a background like his to enter politics.

“Two and a half years ago, I had no notions, no family background in politics. I tell you what – you are going to see a lot more people coming from the North Inner City and disadvantaged areas, hopefully, because of what we have achieved.”