Bacik 'will not be double jobbing' if elected to Dáil

Ivana Bacik said she would only consider giving up her post in Trinity after the Dublin Bay South by-election result is known. File picture

Labour’s Ivana Bacik will not be “double jobbing” if elected to the Dáil, a signal she is likely to resign from her post at Trinity College Dublin.

At a press conference outside Leinster House, Ms Bacik was pressed by the media about her law professorship and what would happen to that were she to win the seat.

The party’s Dublin Bay South candidate’s campaign manager, Fingal TD Duncan Smith, said such talk risks putting people off entering politics.

He said a “whole lot of work” needs to be done on getting people to consider careers in politics.

“If you look at the work that councillors have to do and sacrifices they have to make. We need to have a conversation at some point about how we can get people into politics,” Mr Smyth said.

Mr Smyth said Ms Bacik would not be “double jobbing”.

“For anyone to get involved in politics at any level, a local area rep, a councillor, a senator or a TD, it is usually risky and that is something they take on themselves.

"I would rather live in a society and economy where if people want to make that leap at whatever, that there would be protections,” he added.

Ms Bacik said she would only consider giving up her post in Trinity after the Dublin Bay South by-election result is known.

Sabbatical

She is currently on a sabbatical from her role as an associate professor in the university and working on reduced hours as a lecturer.

“We are two days out from the election, we will see what the result of the election is,” she said.

Ms Bacik said there was State policy in place to allow people retain their positions on entering public life should they need to fall back on it.

“I’m on career break, I taught part-time for some time,” she said. 

On the controversy over her featuring in an RTÉ television programme during the campaign, Ms Bacik said she was unaware the show was going to air. Filming for the programme took place in 2018. 

Fine Gael lodged a complaint to the national broadcaster on the matter.