Trinity graduate and activist Conor Reddy has announced that he will be standing in the upcoming general election as a candidate for People Before Profit in Dublin North West.
Reddy graduated last year with a degree in genetics and now works in research in Trinity. A former member of Trinity’s branch of People Before Profit, he was heavily involved in various activist campaigns during his time in College, including a leading role in the Take Back Trinity protests and the BDS Palestine movement.
He also campaigned against the support of Israeli exports on campus. He was arrested during the 2019 Cut the Rent protests in Dublin, opposing the increasing rent prices and the privatised ownership of vacant city properties. In 2019, he co-founded an activist group to campaign for PhD students’ rights.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar today announced his intention to dissolve the current Dáil in the coming days, but would not give a date for an election.
Reddy announced the launch of his campaign in the Dublin North West constituency in a Facebook post this evening.
He said: “After a lot of deliberation and strong support from family, friends and fellow activists, I’m delighted to announce that I’ll be running as the People Before Profit candidate for Dublin North West in the upcoming General Election. Like most young people, I’m sick of struggling to get by and I’m angry that we live under a system that so cruelly denies us a future.”
“Young and old alike, we live in a society that cruelly privileges the interests of a wealthy few over the struggling many”, Reddy wrote. “From high rents and the housing crisis, to low wages and the existential threat of climate change – it can be hard to be hopeful, hard to see that another world is possible.”
“But”, he continued, “I’m an activist too and my experiences fighting alongside thousands of others in campaigns from Water Charges and Housing to Marriage Equality and Repeal have uplifted me and shattered any doubts I had that change wasn’t possible. I’ve been inspired by the kindness and dedication of others, seen first hand how solidarity can overcome despair and celebrated hard-won victories against what seemed like impossible odds. If the past decade has thought us anything, it’s that People Power, the strength of working class people standing together can move mountains”.
“No one represents this kind of People Power politics better than People Before Profit, a party that I am proud to represent. But we’re facing a massive challenge in this election. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have governed this country for almost 100 years but in the last decade, we’ve loosened their grip.”
“They would love nothing more than to wipe out People Before Profit and other left wing forces in the Dáil. They desperately want to snuff out anyone who challenges their rotten brand of politics and they will use every bit of their wealth, power and influence to stop us”, he said.
He concluded: “We have a hell of a fight ahead of us but together we can break the cycle of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael rule and build a fairer, more equal society!”
Last month, another recent Trinity graduate, Rob O’Donnell, announced he would be contesting the election as a Green Party candidate in Tipperary.
