Labour reveals first time candidates for party ticket in Limerick local elections

THE Labour party in Limerick has unveiled two new candidates to run on its ticket in City North in next summer’s local election.

Homelessness campaigner Anne Cronin, Ennis Road, and Deputy Jan O’Sullivan’s parliamentary assistant Conor Sheehan of Lower Park in Corbally, will form a new look ticket for the party in the seven-seater ward in the election in May 2019.

It’s a case of ‘as you were’ in City West and City East, with veteran councillor Joe Leddin contesting his fifth local election, and Moldovan member Elena Secas taking part in her third count.

The four were ratified at a convention in the Pery Hotel, chaired by Cork TD Sean Sherlock.

And Ms O’Sullivan is confident all four candidates can secure election to the new council.

“I am so proud of all our candidates. Four fantastic presentations, four very different people, but all with a sense of wanting a more equal society. That’s essentially what the Labour party is all about,” she said.

Ms O’Sullivan feels there is “real space” for two candidates on the northside, which has seen an extra seat added and now includes Garryowen and Rhebogue.

She said: “At least two councillors are retiring – one of them is John Gilligan, who would have represented a lot of the areas we would also campaign on. It’s a very broad geographical area and Anne and Connor live at opposite ends of it.”

Ms Cronin works for Novas Initiatives and led a four year campaign for the establishment of a new Educate Together school, which opened in September.

She said it was the “horror stories” she hears surrounding the housing crisis which prompted her to join Labour and seek election.

“I cannot continue to hear these stories and not physically try to do something about it. That’s why I want to represent Labour on the council. To ensure the local authority is doing all it can to answer the plight of thousands of people living in this twilight zone, without the benefits we enjoy on a daily basis,” she told the convention.

Mr Sheehan, 25, meanwhile, said: “I am not running to turn up at protests with flags and posters in order to get my photo taken. I am standing because I want to deliver for my community.”

The local election takes place on May 24.