The Social Democrats have chosen councillor Jen Cummins as their general election candidate in Dublin South Central.
Cummins, who was elected to Dublin City Council in June, will line out for the party in one of the most left-leaning constituencies in Ireland.
At present, the constituency is made up of a Sinn Féin TD (Aengus Ó Snodaigh), a People Before Profit TD (Bríd Smith), a Green TD (Patrick Costello) and a Right2Change TD (Joan Collins).
Nicknamed “The People’s Republic of Dublin South Central,” the constituency is one of the Soc Dems’ target areas in the upcoming general election as it looks to position itself as the main party of the progressive left in Irish politics.
Cummins’ victory in South-West Inner City in June saw her increase her share of the vote from 7.8% to 10.9%.
The constituency saw victory for Green councillor Michael Pidgeon as he topped the poll and was elected on the first count (after seeing his vote decline from 22.6% to 19.2%) and also saw victory for Labour’s Darragh Moriarty who increased Labour’s share of the vote in the area from 11.4% in 2019 (when Senator Rebecca Moynihan won the seat for the party) to 12.2%.
South-West Inner City was the location of Sinn Féin’s multi-candidate strategy utterly backfiring with the party getting just one councillor (Maire Devine) elected despite running three candidates.
June’s local election results were proof that Sinn Féin’s pivot towards the centre on certain social and economic issues turned off a large swathe of progressive voters that supercharged the party in 2020 and the likes of the Social Democrats majorly benefited from the shift.
In addition, the Social Democrats also benefited from a general swing away from the Greens at a local and national level.
Dublin South Central will remain a 4-seater in the upcoming general election but is notably not represented by a Fianna Fail or Fine Gael TD.
In the 2011 general election, when the constituency was a 5-seater, it famously returned 2 Labour TDs, a Sinn Féin TD, a People Before Profit TD and a Fine Gael TD.
The Social Democrats have contended the constituency in the 2016 and 2020 general elections, scoring 5.7% in their debut outing in 2016 and 3.7% in 2020.
Dublin South-West consists of South-West Inner City, parts of Kimmage-Rathmines, and Ballyfermot-Drimnagh at a local level.
Kimmage-Rathmines councillor Eoin Hayes will be lining out for the Soc Dems in the neighbouring Dáil constituency of Dublin Bay South, while the party were unsuccessful in getting a candidate elected in Ballyfermot-Drimnagh.
Cummins joins already announced candidates Patrick Costello of the Greens, Labour’s Darragh Moriarty and People Before Profit’s Hazel De Nortúin as general election candidates in the constituency.
Bríd Smith announced last summer she would not be seeking re-election to the Dáil.