Clare Daly to run in General Election 2024 in Dublin Central

Former MEP Clare Daly has announced she will contest the next general election in Dublin Central.

She lost her seat in the European Parliament in June after crashing out of the Dublin constituency on count 17.

Dublin Central is the same constituency that Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch is rumoured to be considering a general election run in.

READ MORE: Paschal Donohoe addresses suggestions Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch will run for election in his constituency

READ MORE: Clare Daly snubs RTÉ after losing her seat in European Parliament elections

The sitting TDs include Fine Gael Minister Paschal Donohoe, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald, Green Party TD Neasa Hourigan and Gary Gannon of the Social Democrats.

In a post on X on Thursday morning, Ms Daly said she had thought "long and hard" about whether to contest Election 2024.

She served as a TD for Dublin North, later renamed Fingal, between 2011 and 2019.

Ms Daly will now run for Independents 4 Change in Dublin Central.

"I am deeply concerned at the direction the country is going and at the lack of any serious challenge, debate, or holding to account of the Government in the Dáil or the media," she wrote.

"We have record inequality against the backdrop of record wealth; a housing and rents crisis that has forced many to emigrate while plunging others into poverty or homelessness, with affordable secure accommodation denied to even those with relatively decent employment. We have abject failure to take adequate steps to deal with the imminent dangers from climate change; the undermining of our neutrality and further integration into EU militarisation; and complete failure to take action against Israeli genocide in Gaza."

She continued: "Dublin Central has a long history of fearless Independent TDs who were not afraid to speak up and speak out for their community, in the tradition of Tony Gregory & Maureen O'Sullivan.

"That approach is needed now more than ever, as the city is neglected and communities feel abandoned. I have a long track record as a serious organiser from my student days, on to my work as a shop-steward and leader of the Anti-Water Charges & Anti-Bin Charges campaigns. I have a reputation for taking up issues before they were popular, be it abortion rights or Garda reform. I have an international profile as an anti-war and pro- Palestine advocate."

Ms Daly acknowledged that while she does not have a "record on the ground in Dublin Central", she argued that she did represent Dublin Central while sitting as an MEP for Dublin.

Ms Daly hit headlines in June when she snubbed RTÉ after losing her seat in the European elections.

Ms Daly and her Independents 4 Change colleague, Mick Wallace, had been accused of adopting a pro-Russia stance since the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict, having failed to support a number of European Parliament resolutions that criticised Moscow.

She has condemned Russian aggression but has also criticised the West’s role in the current conflict, opposing the introduction of sanctions and the supply of weapons to Ukraine.

In 2022, Ukraine’s security agency placed Ms Daly on a list of public figures who it believed were promoting Russian propaganda, referring to her statements that sanctions are making innocent people suffer, and that the conflict is a proxy war between NATO and Russia.

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