General Election: Parties lay out their plans for anticipated Election in Mayo
Ireland’s minority parties are hoping for a breakthrough in the upcoming general election in Mayo.
Traditionally, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have been the strong performers in Mayo with Sinn Féin’s Rose Conway-Walsh making the breakthrough for her party in 2020. The spoke with parties that have a smaller share of Dáil seats to gauge their views on the general election, the date of which has yet to be announced.
The Green Party has yet to hold a selection convention in Mayo but has had selection processes taking place nationally. A spokesperson for the Mayo Greens said the party is looking to run a candidate in Mayo and will likely have that person in place by the end of September.
“We will look to run a candidate to promote and champion the huge opportunities for Mayo in generating Green energy and to have a strong Mayo voice in the Dáil,” the spokesperson said.
The Labour Party also intends to run a Dáil candidate in Mayo. It is understood that Castlebar-based party representative Kamal Uddin will be among those seeking the party’s selection with a convention to take place in the coming month.
Cllr Paul Lawless became the first Aontú councillor to be elected in Mayo at the ocal elections in June. He said discussions are ongoing within his party about running a candidate in the general election.
“We’re seriously considering it and are discussing it now among the party. It is our intention to have a candidate in Mayo,” he said.
While Knock-based Cllr Lawless did not confirm whether he would be interested in running for the Dáil again, having unsuccessfully run in 2020, he said he would like to see better representation for the east and south of the county.
“Our infrastructure is below that of our peers and there is a real regional imbalance happening. I would like to see a local TD representing this area,” he said.
People Before Profit-Solidarity (PBP-S) will look to run two candidates in Mayo - one in Castlebar and another in Ballina - and the selection process is likely to be completed by the second week of September.
Joe Daly, who ran for PBP-S in the recent local elections and the last general election, said he is interested in running for the party but nothing has been confirmed.
“We would be looking towards a French-style left front pulling together the likes of ourselves, Sinn Féin, the Social Democrats and left-leaning Independents that is based on combating the general shift to the right and the far-right and to emulate the success of this approach we seen in France,” he said.
“We would rule out a coalition with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and want to give the people a viable option that is an alternative to Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.”
A spokesperson for the Social Democrats said the party does not have any plans to run a candidate in Mayo at this time.
