Duncan Smith to be Labour Candidate in Fingal By-Election
The Labour Party will tonight hold its first convention for the four by-elections, selecting Councillor Duncan Smith as the candidate for Dublin Fingal.
Speaking ahead of the convention, Councillor Smith said:
“I am very excited to fly the Labour Party flag in the upcoming by election in Dublin Fingal. I love my town of Swords and truly believe that the county of Fingal is the best place to raise my young family.
“Fingal is a constituency that is beset by a number of very real challenges. People in our county are suffering through a transport and commuter crisis. People are spending a large chunk of their day in their cars in traffic or on long journeys on public transport – this is seriously impacting on the work-life balance of people in our county.
“People in Fingal are living on the hard edge of the affordable housing and homelessness emergency. As Chair of Fingal County Council’s Housing SPC, I am more aware than most of the scale of the housing crisis in our county and the solutions needed.
“Tackling precarious and low-paid work is an issue that I want to focus on throughout my campaign, building on Labour’s Future of Work agenda. Some of my competitors are completely out of touch when it comes to the very real issues that young workers face, they would rather focus on ensuring private healthcare hospitals are delivered, something that is completely out of reach to so many who are in precarious work.
“I have been working on the front line on many local issues since I was elected by the people of Swords since 2014.
“It is fitting that tonight’s convention is being held eleven years to the day of when I joined the Labour Party – on the day after the banking crisis. The decisions made by the Fianna Fáil – Green Government of that time are decisions my generation are continuing to pay the price for.
“Labour has deep and solid roots in this constituency, and I am well placed to bring the concerns and experiences that my generation are struggling through – housing, childcare, insecure work and more to the Dáil.
Sitting Labour TD for Fingal, Brendan Ryan added:
“Duncan is an excellent candidate for this by-election and we are united behind his campaign. Duncan is familiar with all the issues on the ground and is a proper Labour representative in the truest sense of the word.”
Labour Party Leader, Brendan Howlin TD concluded:
“I am delighted that Duncan is standing for the by-election. He has been an enthusiastic and hard-working councillor, with a proven track record of serving the people of Fingal.
“Duncan is a prime example of the new generation of Labour politicians who have dedicated themselves to promote our vision of an equal society. Duncan would be a terrific voice for the people of North Dublin in Dáil Éireann.”