Dudgeon bids to be Seanad’s ‘unionist voice’

FIRST it was Gerry, now it’s Jeffrey. Hot on the heels of Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams’s move to Leinster House, a long-standing member of the Ulster Unionist Party has announced plans to run in the Seanad elections.

Jeffrey Dudgeon, a one-time gay activist, communist and former worker for the ultra-conservative United Kingdom Unionist Party member Robert McCartney, has confirmed he is targeting a seat in the Oireachtas upper house.

If he succeeds, the 63-year-old will become the first openly-stated unionist to be a member of the Seanad since the first years of the state.