Irish politics: The next generation
With elections to the Dáil and the Seanad on the way, 2007 is likely to throw up a fresh generation of political contenders. Craig Fitzsimons casts an eye over some of the young guns likely to make a splash.
Craig Fitzsimons, 23 Jan 2007
Killian Forde (Sinn Fein)
Touted by Dubliner magazine as the man who might become ‘Ireland’s first Sinn Fein Taoiseach’, Bayside native Forde is currently Sinn Féin’s Finance spokesman on Dublin City Council, and serves as a councillor for Donaghmede ward, having topped the poll in 2004’s local elections with more than 3,500 votes. Articulate, rational, entertaining and not at all doctrinaire, Forde’s suave image could scarcely contrast more with stereotypical perceptions of Republican politicians. As with any Sinn Féin candidate, Forde will have to contend with a barrage of hostile coverage in the mainstream media, but his debating skills should amply equip him for the task.
Barry Andrews (Fianna Fail)
In a Fianna Fail party still largely wary of confronting its sometimes murky past, Dun Laoghaire TD Barry Andrews stands apart. Outspoken and articulate, Andrews (39) isn’t afraid of putting it up to FF’s ruling elite – in June of last year he was one of a number of disaffected back benchers who attempted to establish a committee to influence government policy. The son of former Foreign Affairs Minister David Andrews and brother of comedian Dave McSavage, Andrews combines a career politician’s polish with an easy wit and an open manner. With a fair wind, he could be a Minister before the year is out.
Clare Daly (Socialist Party)
A long-standing SP activist whose ferocious articulacy compares not unfavourably with that of her party colleague Joe Higgins, Daly is widely expected to join Higgins in Dáil Éireann this year, having built up a large support base in Dublin North. Currently a councillor for Swords ward, Daly was sent to Mountjoy Prison for a month in 2003 for her activities in the bin-tax protests. The Minister for the Environment, Martin Cullen, subsequently accused herself and Higgins of ‘political grandstanding of the highest scale’. Daly, a SIPTU shop steward in Aer Lingus at Dublin Airport, was undaunted.
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