By-election for North-Central confirmed

It’s official, voters in Cork North-Central will be going to the polls on 29 November in three weeks. 

Posters have begun to be erected by candidates hoping to fill the vacant Dáil seat left by now Fianna Fáil MEP Billy Kelleher while canvassing began for some of the candidates several weeks ago.

People have until this day next week to declare themselves as a candidate and until 16 November to withdraw their nomination. Eight candidates have, so far, thrown their hat in the ring to fill the vacant seat, many of which are already involved in politics at local and national level. 

Fianna Fáil is running current county councillor Pádraig O’Sullivan while Fine Gael has chosen Senator Colm Burke. Sinn Féin Cllr Thomas Gould and Solidarity Cllr Fiona Ryan have been chosen by their parties to run in the by-election too. 

Newly elected councillors Oliver Moran with the Green Party and John Maher, a Labour councillor, are also on the ballot. Social Democrats local election candidate Sinéad Halpin is hoping to secure enough votes as is the latest candidate to declare their intention to run which is James Coughlan from the Workers’ Party. 

He was the party’s candidate in the then Cork North-West ward of the city in the 2014 local election.

The electorate for Cork North-Central is 87,203, Eoghan Murphy Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government said yesterday as he confirmed the Cork by-election as well as the Dublin Fingal, Dublin Mid-West and Wexford by-elections.