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FOR CLOSE FOLLOWERS of Irish politics, a by-election is always exciting, but one in Dublin Central? Electoral Christmas.
It is one of the most interesting constituencies in the country, the home of heavyweight political names like Mary Lou McDonald, Bertie Ahern and outgoing TD Paschal Donohoe.
In last year’s general election, it was the constituency that garnered the most headlines when gangland figure Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch narrowly lost out on the fourth and final seat.
Donohoe’s announcement yesterday that he is bowing out of Irish electoral politics to take up a senior role with the World Bank in the US means that a by-election must now be held within six months to replace him.
Sinn Féin will be feeling confident going into this that it can take a second seat, given that party leader Mary Lou McDonald topped the poll in the constituency last year.
Councillors Janice Boylan and Séamas McGrattan are seen as the two likely candidates for the party.
Rumours have swirled that the party may decide to go with an outside choice in the form of Kneecap manager and Bohemians chief commercial officer, Daniel Lambert.
Lambert’s name has been linked to Sinn Féin in the past, but the Phibsboro native put that rumour to bed today.
When contacted by The Journal, Lambert denied that he had been approached by Sinn Féin.
Asked if he would consider it, Lambert said: “No, I’m busy enough”.
The obvious choice for Fine Gael here is Lord Mayor of Dublin Ray McAdam.
Asked if he would consider running, McAdam told The Journal that he would have to talk to his family, friends and supporters.
McAdam said he did not want to “belittle” the office of Lord Mayor of Dublin by rushing to wade into a by-election, so he’s giving it careful consideration.
Fianna Fáil has not had a TD in Dublin Central since 2011 and the days of Bertie, meaning it will be a tough race for whichever candidate the party chooses.
Right now, it looks like it will be one of two: Senator Mary Fitzpatrick or the party’s only councillor in the constituency, Deputy Lord Mayor of Dublin, John Stevens.
A Taoiseach’s nominee to the Seanad in 2020, Fitzpatrick has unsuccessfully contested the last five general elections in the area.
The question everyone is asking: Will she want to do it again?
The SocDems will also be hoping to win a second seat in Dublin Central alongside TD Gary Gannon.
It’s Gannon’s Oireachtas staffer, Daniel Ennis, a councillor for the North Inner City, who is one of the two tipped to be the party’s candidate.
Ennis will go up against fellow councillor Cat O’Driscoll in the party’s selection convention scheduled for next month.
Despite Labour’s Marie Sherlock’s dramatic win in the constituency last year, there are no obvious choices for the party going into this by-election.
Nonetheless, the party is likely to run somebody… name pending.
The Green Party has two strong local councillors in the area between Janet Horner and Feljin Jose. We understand one of the two will be their party’s candidate.
Despite Green TD Neasa Hourigan losing her seat in the area last year, party sources are feeling optimistic that the ‘Green Machine’ could win back a Dáil seat.
Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch
Hutch famously ran from the RDS last December after failing to win a seat, telling reporters he would “consider” running in an election again and adding, “I’ve been running my whole life”.
For now, though, it is unclear if he actually means that.
When contacted by The Journal yesterday, Kevin Corcoran, the head coach who runs the Corinthians Boxing Club in the north inner city – which Hutch has been involved in supporting for a long time – said he has “no idea what Gerry’s plans are”.
“He’s living away at the moment, so I really wouldn’t know,” Corcoran said.
An Instagram account used during his general election campaign teased a potential run yesterday – flashing an image of the Five Lamps with the slogan ‘The People’s Choice’. However it’s not known if Hutch still has control of the account.
Clare Daly
The former TD and MEP contested a seat in this constituency in last year’s general election. It was not one of her better days, with Daly placing 10th out of 13 candidates.
Her supporters attribute this poor performance to the fact that her connections with the constituency would be fairly limited (she was a TD for Dublin North back when she was in the Dáil).
Some suspect the bruising result a year ago would put Daly off running again, but given her close relationship with newly-elected President Catherine Connolly, others wonder if this might inspire her to try again.
Malachy Steenson
The anti-immigration campaigner, who came to prominence during protests against asylum seeker accommodation in East Wall in 2022, won a seat in last year’s local elections but unsuccessfully contested the Dáil elections a few months later.
At the time, he blamed Gerry Hutch for his failure to win a seat and suggested that Hutch was put into the race by the State to stop Steenson winning.
Steenson appears to have already decided that he will run in the forthcoming by-election, retweeting a supporter urging people to vote for him.
An earlier version of this article referred to Daniel Lambert as chief operating officer of Bohemians FC. However, in recent months, he has switched roles to chief commercial officer.
Includes reporting from Eimer McAuley
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