Daughter of former Limerick mayor to seek election with the Green Party

A DAUGHTER of a former mayor of Limerick is seeking election to Dublin City Council next May.

Neasa Hourigan, 38, is running for the Green Party in Cabra come May. She is the daughter of two-time mayor of Limerick Michael Hourigan.

Born at the North Circular Road, Neasa, who is also the party’s general election candidate for Dublin Central, said it was her father who instilled a sense of political purpose into her – even though their politics don’t match, with Cllr Hourigan being a Fine Gael man.

“You couldn't be in my house and not be interested in politics. Dad is a very community orientated person. He came at it from the point of view of 'what can you do for your community?' Can you be active? Even though ideologically and politically, we wouldn't have the same ideas about everything, I learnt the whole thing about living on your street, you get involved, you do your best. I agree with him on that,” she said.

Neasa has a professional background in architecture, working in studying in Sweden, where she says they are “far ahead on the environment.”

“As soon as I qualified, I went into this area,” she added.

She is a former head of sustainable design at top Dublin architecture firm Scott Tallon Walker, designing the RTE media centre among other things.

Neasa also worked at the Mater Adult Hospital as its head of environment, while she has also lectured in Queens University Belfast.

Her father Cllr Hourigan s​aid: “I’m very happy she is running. It’s great to see young people getting involved, and I like to see my family taking a keen interest in local and national politics. It's a very healthy way to be.”

Cllr Hourigan will retire at the next election – set for May 24 – after 20 years in local politics.