Cork TD Seán Sherlock will not contest next General Election

Labour TD Seán Sherlock has served as a TD for the Cork East constituency since 2007. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

Labour Party TD Seán Sherlock has announced he will not contest the next General Election.

In a statement given to the Irish Examiner on Monday, Mr Sherlock said he made the “difficult” decision “with a heavy heart.” The announcement comes just days after former Labour leader Brendan Howlin also announced he would not run in the next election.

Mr Sherlock, 50, has served as a TD for the Cork East constituency since 2007.

In his statement, Mr Sherlock admitted that the impact of the recent boundary changes by the Electoral Commission in August influenced his decision to walk away from political life.

The redraw of the constituencies resulted in Mr Sherlock's home base of Mallow being moved from Cork-East into Cork North-Central.

Mr Sherlock said: “It would be wrong of me to pretend that the recent publication of the Electoral Commission’s Constituency Report 2023 has not influenced my decision. It has. 

The Commission had a difficult job to do, but the impact on Mallow and Cork East has been profound. I always anticipated some change to our constituency, but the scale of that change is so extensive that it caused me to reflect on my own political future.

“I have never been afraid of a political challenge and have fought difficult elections successfully.

“However this time I had to weigh up the splintering of the areas I have represented and worked hard for over the last 20 years across two constituencies and the immense challenge of trying to get elected in an entirely new constituency.

“Having considered this with my wife, Máire, my family and my closest political supporters, and as a Dad of three young children, I have decided that the time is now right for me to step aside.

“I will always be committed to the Labour Party and to its values and principles, and I know that there are positive days ahead for the party," he added.

Mr Sherlock informed members of Cork-East last night of his decision and told Labour leader Ivana Bacik and his colleagues last week. He said he is “deeply grateful” to the people of Cork-East for re-electing him in each subsequent election since 2007.

Labour leader Ivana Bacik with Seán Sherlock. Picture: Gareth Chaney /Collins Photos

Mr Sherlock first became a TD after following in his father, Joe Sherlock’s footsteps. His father represented Cork-East from 1981 to 2007.

“My focus now will be on assisting local election candidates in Cork City and county in their aims to seek election to our local authorities as well as working with candidates selected to contest the General Election.

“The Sherlock family, whether through my late father, Joe, my sister Úna or through my own work, have always sought to serve the people to the best of our ability.

“Mallow is my home. It is where I live, where I work, and where I raise my family.

“I will continue to represent and play my part to make North and East Cork the best possible place to live and give those without a voice a way to be heard, until my final day in Dáil Éireann,” the statement added.

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Mr Sherlock is spokesperson for the Labour Party on Justice as well as Children & Youth Affairs and is currently chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Petitions.

Previously, he served as the party’s spokesperson on Agriculture and Food between September 2007 to March 2011. From 2011 to 2014 he served as Minister of State at the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and Education and Skills in the Fine Gael-Labour coalition government. He also served as Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade with special responsibility for Trade Promotion, Development and North-South Cooperation between 2014 to 2016. Throughout his career, Mr Sherlock was a negotiator for the Government on the Stormont House Agreement in 2014.

He is the second Labour TD to announce he will not run for the party again after Mr Howlin also said he would be leaving his political career at the next election.

This leaves the Labour Party with just five sitting TDs heading into the next election. It is understood Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, Alan Kelly, Ivana Bacik, Ged Nash and Duncan Smith all plan to contest the next election.