Constituency: Meath West

Ray Butler (50) was elected as a TD for Meath West in the 2011 general election. He received 13.1 pc of first preference votes, coming in fourth place slightly behind a Labour candidate following the initial count. He was elected as the third TD for the constituency however after five counts. Deputy Butler has a background in business and is originally from Kells. Before being elected as a TD he was self-employed for over twenty years and served on Trim Town Council from 2004 to 2011 and Meath County Council in 2009. He lists sustained economic growth, better broadband, and an increased in the availability of social housing in Meath as personal priorities for his time in office.

Shane Cassells (37) has been a Fianna Fáil member of Meath County Council since 2004. Current vice-chair, he has held a number of positions on the council, including party whip. A journalist by profession, he has twice run unsuccessfully for national office. The wait for social housing in Meath and affordable childcare are two issues that he hopes to tackle if elected.

Damien English (37) has been a TD for Meath West for more than 14 years. First elected in 2002 as a Fine Gael candidate at the age of 24, he has seen his first preference votes rise dramatically over three general elections. Beginning at 9.3 pc, by 2011 voters in Meath West were giving the 37-year-old 23.1 pc of their number ones. Since being elected to the Dáil, Deputy English has served as Minister of State for Skills, Research and Innovation and has acted as a party spokesperson on a number of issues, including Small Business and Labour Affairs, Drugs, Alcohol and Crime Prevention, and Arts, Sports and Tourism. In the current Dáil, the avid marathon runner and father-of-four has most recently held the position of Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee for Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation.

Independent candidate Trevor Golden has served as a councillor for more than 11 years, first on Trim Town Council and currently as a member of Meath County Council. An IT professional, he is committed to getting improved broadband service for rural Ireland. Cllr Golden believes that Meath needs strong Independent voice in the Dáil. He is currently the chair of the Trim Joint Policing committee and Vice-Chair for Meath Tourism.

Navan native Alan Lawes is contesting the 2016 general election for Direct Democracy Ireland. A former People Before Profit Alliance candidate in the 2014 local elections, where he polled at 3.4 pc, Mr Lawes is a founding member of the National Citizens Movement – an anti-water charges and anti-vaccination protest group. Alongside opposing austerity measures and campaigning for a higher minimum wage, the DDI candidate wants to give people the opportunity to hold citizen initiated referendums.

A resident in Oldcastle, John Malone is a first-time general election candidate and leader of the Christian and Jobs Action Party. Founded in 2015 in response to the same-sex marriage referendum, Mr Malone's party is focused on the Christian Faith and supports job creation and investment in local businesses.

Labour’s Tracey McElhinney (43) is a former Meath County Council, having served between 2009 and 2014. She lost her seat in the last local elections, receiving some 4 pc of first preference votes. A strong advocate for workers’ rights, Ms McElhinney believes more should be done to encourage local employment schemes, which, she says, are vital to keeping rural communities together. She is formerly a chairperson of the Louth/Meath Education and Training Board and is founder of the employment lobby group Next Era Calling.

Green Party candidate for Meath West Seamus McMenamin (36) is a family doctor in Navan. This will be his first time running in a general election. He says he decided to run for Meath West over concerns about the retention of local health services in the area, especially Navan Hospital. Alongside this, he also wants to see legalisation to prevent Ireland’s water from being privatised. A board member for Meath at the Irish College of General Practitioners, Mr McMenamin is also a former chair of the North East Doctor on Call organisation.

Having stood unsuccessfully in both the 2004 and 2009 local elections, Sinn Féin's Peadar Tóibín (41) was elected as a TD for Meath West in 2011. A former Deputy Mayor of Navan and self-employed Management Consultant, Deputy Tóibín is part of Sinn Féin Economics Committee that contributes to the party’s budgetary policy. He is also the party's representative on the British Irish Parliamentary Assembly, which following the Good Friday Agreement seeks to foster common understanding between the legislative bodies of the United Kingdom, Ireland, and British crown dependencies. He is a current member of the Sinn Féin Ard Chomhairle (National Executive Committee). In 2013, Mr Tóibín was suspended from the Sinn Féin parliamentary party for six months after he voted against the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill. By his own account, he remains “strongly convinced on the right to life” of the unborn.