Joe Lynch has been a Cork City councillor since 2024. He has worked full-time in politics for over a decade, including as a parliamentary assistant in the Dáil to Gerry Adams and Mary Lou McDonald. Educated at Gaelscoil Uí Ríordáin and Gaelcholáiste Choilm, he holds a Master’s degree in government from UCC and an undergraduate degree in accounting. He is a father of one.

I decided to run in this election because my community of Ballincollig needs strong representation in the Dáil, and because my generation need solutions to a housing crisis that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are making worse every day that they remain in office.

The lack of affordable homes means that the people I have grown up with cannot afford a home to buy or rent in their own community, so increasing the supply of affordable homes locally, across Cork North Central and across the State is my number one priority.

I am very proud to have grown up in a Council estate - Innishmore in Ballincollig - which is as strong a working-class community as you can find, and where I still live. It provided my family with an affordable, secure, safe home, which is everything any family could wish for. I want to talk about how that aspiration should be available to every worker and family.