McCarthy is Labour’s pick for Dublin Rathdown

Labour has selected veteran councillor Lettie McCarthy to run for a Dáil seat in Dublin Rathdown.

McCarthy previously appeared on the ballot for Labour in the 2020 general election where she received 7.5% of first preferences.

More recently, McCarthy was re-elected to a fifth term on Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Council in Glencullen-Sandyford.

McCarthy and independent candidate Michael Fleming were both elected on the first count in the constituency, with McCarthy scoring 16.6% of first preferences. 

Compared to her 2019 electoral haul, McCarthy received 6% fewer first preferences (in 2019, she received 22% of first preferences) but this was offset by the progressive/soft left vote consolidating around McCarthy in Glencullen-Sandyford.

Sinn Féin and the Social Democrats scored 6.8% of first preferences between them, and the Greens saw a 5.3% drop in their vote compared to 2019.

With Dublin Rathdown being bumped up to a four-seater at the next general election, McCarthy, in theory, has a shot of securing Labour’s first seat in the area since 2011.

Labour hasn’t held a seat in the area since the constituency was previously known as Dublin South, with Alex White losing his seat in the 2016 general election after winning it in 2011.

The decline of the Green vote in Dublin Rathdown at a local level in June means that Labour (and the Social Democrats’ Sinéád Gibney) will be nipping at Catherine Martin’s heels at the general election.

Dundrum, Glencullen-Sandyford and parts of the Stillorgan local electoral areas are the local electoral areas that fall within Dublin Rathdown.

In Dundrum, the Green share of the vote tumbled from 19.6% in 2019 to 8.3% in 2024, while Labour councillor Peter O’Brien increased his share of the vote from 6.6% in 2019 to 8.9% in 2024.

2024 marked the first time the Social Democrats appeared on the ballot in Dundrum and the party earned 6% of first preferences.

In Stillorgan, where Barry Saul of Fine Gael and Eva Dowling of the Greens were both elected on the first count in 2019 with 21.4% and 20.4% respectively 2024 proved to be a tale of two cities for the candidates.

Saul increased his share of first preferences to 24.7% while Dowling, who still won re-election, saw her vote tumble down to 10.2%.

Indeed, it was the Social Democrats who found themselves as the laughing third in Stilorgan winning a seat in the constituency on their first attempt.

John Hurley won a seat for the party in their debut outing, while Labour saw their vote dip to 2.8%.

McCarthy joins the aforementioned Gibney in declaring their candidacy alongside Fianna Fáil’s Shay Brennan and former Green deputy leader Catherine Martin.

At present, Martin serves as a TD for the area alongside Fine Gael TDs Neale Richmond and Josepha Madigan.

Madigan has already declared she will not be seeking re-election, but it can be inferred that Fine Gael will be running two candidates in the constituency come general election time.