6 SWORDS Gazette 18 February 2016
election 2016 | who’s hoping to claim a seat in dublin fingal
Hopefuls focusing on key personal, community issues joe o’brien (GP) JOE O’Brien is the Fingal Green Party representative. Originally from Cork, he now lives in Skerries with his wife and two young children. His background is in economics and sociology and he has a special interest in social justice and ecologi-cal issues. Having previously worked as a policy officer for Crosscare, O’Brien has said that he hopes to address inequality, provide secure homes for people and bring further transparency to politics in his role. enda reynolds (UP) ENDA Reynolds is contesting for newly formed left-wing party, United People. GERRY MOLLOY (Ren) FINGAL’S Renua candidate is Gerry Molloy, a Malahide-based practising doctor who also serves as an aviation medical examiner with the Irish Aviation Authority. MARCUS DE BRUN (Ind) MARCUS De Brun is a Rush-based GP and firsttime Independent election candidate. FEARGAL O’CONNELL (Ind) FEARGAL O’Connell is a first time Independent election candidate. louise o’reilly (SF) SINN Fein candidate Louise O’Reilly is contesting in the upcoming general election for Dublin Fingal for the first time. A full-time trade union organiser and a lifelong union activist, O’Reilly is a member of the ICTU Public Services Committee. TERRY KELLEHER (AAA) ANTI-Austerity Alliance candidate for Fingal,
Terry Kelleher is a former Balbriggan town councillor who has a record of 25 years as a trade union representative, a community activist fighting developers, estate management fees, bin charges and water charges in the 1990s. A former Socialist Party member, he is a long-time supporter of Clare Daly (Ind) and Ruth Coppinger (AAA). TONY MURPHY (Ind) TONY Mur phy was elected councillor in May 2014 and is contesting for a Dail seat as an Independent candi-date in the upcoming General Election. He is a member of the Balbriggan Chamber of Commerce. CLARE DALY (Ind Soc) CLARE Daly is one of the current sitting TDs for Dublin Fingal. An Independent Socialist, she was first elected to Fingal County Council in 1999, and was subsequently reelected in 2004 and 2009 before being elected to the Dail in February 2011. Originally from Newbridge in Kildare, she studied accountancy at DCU and was elected president of the Students’ Union twice. She was then a shop steward for over ten years at Dublin Airport and was elected to the Labour Party’s Administrative Committee as a youth representative before being expelled in 1989. In 2012, she was the first TD in the history of the State to introduce pro-choice legislation to the houses of the Oireachtas. In 2013, she publicly criticised the Government’s stance on the use of Shannon Airport by US military aircraft and
was subsequently jailed (briefly) last December for non-payment of a fine for charges of breaching security at Shannon Airport in July, 2014. lorraine clifford lee (FF) FIANNA Fail have added solicitor Lorraine Clifford Lee to the party ticket for Dublin Fingal alongside Senator Darragh O’Brien. A member of the party’s Ard Chomhairle, she was unsuccessful in the 2014 local elec-tions for the Pembroke South Dock ward in Dublin City. Her priorities include affordable quality childcare, tackling crime and anti-social behaviour, increased investment in quality family housing, creating a sustainable health system, job creation, better infra-structure and public transport, protecting the environment and developing tourism. BARRY MARTIN (PBP) CLARE Daly’s running mate, Barry Martin is a councillor and People Before Profit spokesperson on youth af-fairs running for a seat in the upcoming General Election under the Independents 4 Change umbrella title. DARRAGH O’BRIEN (FF) SENATOR Darragh O’Brien is contesting for Fianna Fail in the upcoming election. Having been a member of the Seanad since 2011, he was previously a TD for the old Dublin North constituency from 2007 to 2011. He currently serves as leader of the Opposition and leader and spokesperson for finance of Fianna Fail in Seanad Eireann. He is also a front bench party member. Before the 2007 election, Senator O’Brien was
Dublin Fingal’s General Election candidates have a keen interest in the area’s business supports and economic growth, with candidates sharing an interest in developing the county’s transport links for the future
senior area manager with Friends First Assurance Com-pany in Financial Services, in the pensions sector. He lives in Malahide with his wife and young daughter and is an active member of a number of local sports clubs. DR ROSLYN FULLER (Ind) DR ROSLYN Fuller is contesting in the General Election as an Independent candidate for Fingal. Originally from Canada, she is a writer and researcher on foreign affairs and international law with a PhD in International Law from Trinity College. Having worked as a model while pursuing her PhD, Dr Fuller has extensive media experience and is perhaps best known for her “Wikilicious whistleblower” calendar, for which she combined her aca-demic background with her modelling portfolio to support the rights of whistleblowers. She has worked as a
law lecturer at Trinity College, the National University of Ireland, Maynooth and Griffith College. She is currently a research associate. alan farrell (FG) SITTING TD for Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael’s Alan Farrell was elected to the Dail in 2011. Prior to this he served as a councillor and was elected mayor of Fingal in 2007. He is a former member of the Fingal County Enterprise Board, the Fingal Development Board, and the Drinan Enterprise Centre. He was also chairperson of the Fingal Joint Policing Committee for two years, chairperson of Corporate Policy Group and chairperson of the Organisational and Procedural Commit-tee. Deputy Farrell serves on a number of committees in the Dail including Justice, Equality and Defence, Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform and Public Service Over-
sight and Petitions. He also serves on the internal committee on Environment, Community and Local Government as well as European Affairs and was appointed to chair the internal committee on Public Expenditure and Re-form in 2011. Originally from the Coast Road in Malahide, Deputy Farrell has owned his own letting and estate agen-cy since 2004, having worked in accounts previously. DR JAMES REILLY (FG) DR JAMES Reilly has been the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs since 2014 and is the deputy leader of Fine Gael. He was the Minister of Health from 2011 to 2014 and has been a TD since the 2007 general elec-tion. Dr Reilly has worked as a GP in North County Dublin in Lusk and DOnabate for the past 25 years and was president of the Irish Medical
Organisation prior to his election. He served served on the former Eastern Health Board, the Eastern Regional Health Authority and the Northern Area Health Board. BRENDAN RYAN (Lab) BRENDAN Ryan is currently a sitting Labour TD for Dublin Fingal. He first contested in the 2007 general election for the Dublin North constituency when he was elected to the Seanad. He was elected to the 31st Dail in 2011 where he has served on the Committee on Jobs, Social Protection and Education. Originally from the Donabate/Portrane area, his working background was in the food and chemical industry and he has been involved in a number of local organisations in Skerries where he currently lives, such as a member and treasurer of Skerries Community Association and secretary of the Hills and District Residents’ Association.