FORMER MEP CLARE Daly has confirmed that she will run as an independent candidate in the constituency of Dublin Central. 

Previous to her time in the European Parliament, she was a TD for Dublin Fingal between 2011 and 2019. Daly lost her parliament seat in June this year. 

Confirming that she now plans to switch constituencies, and bid for a seat in Dublin Central, Daly said she thought “long and hard” about whether to contest the next general election.

Daly said she is “deeply concerned at the direction the country is going”, citing issues  such as housing, homelessness, climate change, Ireland’s neutrality and the “complete failure to take action against Israeli genocide in Gaza” as areas she wants to focus on. 

Why I am standing in Dublin Central

After 25 years as a public representative in North Dublin, at local, national, and European level, I thought long and hard about whether to contest the next General Election. Many people, from all over the country, expressed the hope that… pic.twitter.com/nQKcOwi5Xj

— Clare Daly (@ClareDalyIRL) October 24, 2024

“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,” she said in a tweet today. 

“I lived in the area for many years, in Glasnevin and Phibsborough in my student days, in Stoneybatter as a young worker, and now in Drumcondra. I am honoured to have been asked to be part of the fight to make Dublin Central a better place for everyone that lives there, and to take that fight to the Dáil,” she said. 

Daly is entering a crowded space in the four-seat constituency in Dublin Central. 

Fine Gael TD and Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald, Green Party TD Neasa Hourigan and Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon are all contesting the election in a bid to retain their seats. 

Daly told Southeast radio this morning that she might be a ”wild card” in the four-seater, but she decided to throw her hat in the ring. When asked if her Independents 4 Change colleague Mick Wallace will also run, Daly said the “truth is he hasn’t decided yet”, adding that it is a “big decision to make”.