The Labour Party have selected Senator Ivana Bacik to run alongside party leader Eamon Gilmore in the Dun Laoighaire constituency. Bacik currently holds the post of Reid Professor of Criminal Law, Criminology and Penology at Trinity College Dublin. She was elected to the Senate by the university as an independent candidate in 2007. Bacik was also Labour's nomination for the 2009 Dublin Central by-election, where she finished in third position with over 17 per cent of first-preference votes.

Policies

• Ensure greater choice in primary education and more equal access to third-level education (I am involved in the multi-denominational school movement and pioneered the introduction of access places for students in Law at Trinity).
• Increase women’s participation in politics (I wrote a report on this for the Joint Oireachtas Justice committee and have been working to implement its recommendations).
• Provide equality for gay couples (I am a counsel in the case being taken by Katherine Zappone and Ann Louise Gilligan seeking recognition of the right to marry for gay couples, www.kalcase.org
• Bring about comprehensive reform of our criminal justice system (I am a criminal lawyer and former board member of the Irish Penal Reform Trust, and set up an all-party Oireachtas group on penal reform seeking to improve prison conditions, reduce the reliance on imprisonment and introduce more effective ways of reducing re-offending)

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