Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns has paid tribute to the party\u2019s three candidates in the European Elections.<\/p>\n
Deputy Cairns said:<\/p>\n
\u201cI could not be prouder of the exceptional campaigns run by Rory Hearne, Susan Doyle and Sin\u00e9ad Gibney in Midlands-North-West, Ireland South and Dublin respectively.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was the first time the party contested all three European constituencies \u2013 and was the first opportunity for people in every county in Ireland to vote for a Social Democrats\u2019 candidate.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll three candidates would have made excellent MEPs as they could have brought considerable experience to Europe in many important areas: Rory for his expertise on housing and social policy; Susan for her work as a solicitor on immigration and disability issues; and Sin\u00e9ad as the former Chief Commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC).<\/p>\n
\u201cAs first-time candidates running for a smaller party, it can be difficult to make a breakthrough in European constituencies, where there are a multitude of candidates \u2013 including incumbent MEPs \u2013 competing for a limited number of seats.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, I am delighted with the solid performances by Rory, Susan and Sin\u00e9ad and their role in expanding the Social Democrats\u2019 electoral footprint around the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis comes on the back of huge success for the party in the local elections, where we almost doubled the number of councillors elected in 2019, from 19 to 35.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur candidate for directly elected Lord Mayor of Limerick, Elisa O\u2019Donovan, also ran an impressive campaign while successfully retaining her council seat in Limerick West.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am so grateful for the hard work put in by all our candidates and their campaign teams in the past few months. Throughout the local, Limerick Mayor and European election campaigns, it was clear that the party\u2019s inclusive and positive message is resonating with people.\u201d<\/p>\n
June 13, 2024<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns has paid tribute to the party\u2019s three candidates in the European Elections. Deputy Cairns said: \u201cI could not be prouder of the exceptional campaigns run by Rory Hearne, Susan Doyle and Sin\u00e9ad Gibney in Midlands-North-West, Ireland South and Dublin respectively. \u201cThis was the first time the party contested all three […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6503,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[498,400,7,510,497],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-european-elections","category-holly-cairns","category-press-release","category-rory-hearne","category-sinead-gibney"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n