Dublin Central by-election: Candidates try to keep ice cool as canvassing heats up
Social Democrats candidate Daniel Ennis during canvassing in East Wall, Dublin, last week. Picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie
At a door in Glasnevin on the edge of Dublin's north city, a group of children has gathered around their mother following a knock on the door by a Social Democrats volunteer.
Daniel Ennis, the party's candidate for the Dublin Central by-election on Friday, May 22, spots his opportunity and bounds to the door, introducing himself to the adult and explaining to the children what he is doing before asking them what they think there should be more of in the city.
As if rehearsed, the foursome quickly agree on one answer: Ice cream. Never let it be said that Irish politics is not transactional.
In a constituency stretching from Dublin Port to the Phoenix Park and from the Liffey to Ballymun, voters are focused both on local issues — sports facilities, tree roots, parking — and broader concerns such as childcare, SNA provision, and the cost of living.
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With just over a week to go, the by-election contest is very much on.
While it would be easy to frame the contest in the heart of the capital as a straight fight between the Government and opposition parties, that does not tell the full story.
Fine Gael has selected Dublin lord mayor Ray McAdam to replace long-time political ally Paschal Donohoe, whose departure to the World Bank triggered Friday's vote. Sinn Féin is running councillor Janice Boylan, who is seeking to join party leader and constituency colleague Mary Lou McDonald in the Dáil.
With 14 candidates, half of whom are councillors, the race will be competitive — and that's before you get to the elephant in the room. Or, rather, the Monk in the room.
Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch, who has been described in court as the patriarchal figurehead of the Hutch criminal organisation, attended a public meeting last week. He told a reporter he would not be “tormenting” voters on the doorsteps of the constituency in the run-up to the election.
However, he has reportedly been canvassing outside his north inner-city stronghold.
At the 2024 general election, Mr Hutch came close to taking the seat eventually won by Labour's Marie Sherlock. This time around he has been more vocal on issues like immigration, saying recently that “illegal” immigrants should be “interned in the Curragh”.
Whether he can repeat his 2024 showing could have a large bearing on the outcome of the constituency. But it is not a straight battle and there are many variables, least of all the fortunes of the parties of the left.
Mr Ennis has largely been seen as a front-runner, but is not taking it as a procession by any means. He will be aware that Ms Boylan, along with Green Party councillor Janet Horner and Labour's Ruth O'Dea, pose formidable obstacles to the Social Democrats taking a second seat in the constituency alongside his close friend Gary Gannon.
Mr Gannon joined Mr Ennis on the doorsteps of Botanic Road on a sunny Tuesday evening this week, saying the pair had known each other growing up “kicking lumps out of one another” while playing football.
Mr Ennis, who spent time with Shelbourne and Bohemians, later became involved in politics through sport and decided to run for the council in 2024 after witnessing anti-immigration marches in his home area of East Wall.
Having packed his running shoes, Mr Ennis bounds from door to door, introducing himself as someone who brings a "deep humanity" to his work, empathising on the cost of childcare, saying that he is "in the trenches" himself with two young children, and that he wants to shape the community for them.
A day later in the same area, Ms O’Dea was knocking on doors on the other side of the main road. She works in Ms Sherlock’s constituency office and previously spent 11 years with Women’s Aid.
The issues are the same: A lack of SNAs, difficulty accessing carer's allowances, and fears over the impact of the building works for Metrolink. Ms O'Dea, a first-time candidate, is quick to offer assistance.
While Ms O'Dea makes the pitch to one resident that "double the firepower" is the argument for electing her, at the Cabra end of the constituency, Green Party councillor Janet Horner is making the opposite argument.
At door after door, she tells voters she “needs number 1s”, knowing that if a candidate from the left is to cause an upset next Saturday, they must first get ahead of rivals in other left parties before even thinking of Sinn Féin and Fine Gael.
Ms Horner is popular in this part of Cabra but is still keen to remind voters that the constituency has Sinn Féin, Labour, and Social Democrat TDs and the "Green voice" has been missing since the last election.
It is not yet clear who will come out on top in this constituency, but if any of the left-wing candidates wants to be in with a shot, it will be number 1s and transfers, not ice cream, that gets them there.
Mary Lou McDonald (SF)
Paschal Donohoe (FG)
Marie Sherlock (LAB)
Gary Gannon (SD)
- Paul Hosford is deputy political editor at the
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