Constituency: Cavan-Monaghan

Cathy Bennett was added to the Sinn Féin ticket for the upcoming General Election following a second party convention held in early November after Deputy Matt Carthy and Deputy Pauline Tully were selected to run in September. First elected to the local authority in 2012, Cllr Bennett is the current Cathaoirleach of Monaghan County Council and is also Chairperson of Co Monaghan Women’s Assembly. The Scotstown-based local representative’s stock is held in high regard within a party she topped the poll for in June’s local elections when securing over 1,200 first preference votes in the Monaghan Local Electoral Area.

Fine Gael Councillor Carmel Brady was added to the party ticket for the upcoming General Election late in October after a meeting of Fine Gael’s Executive Council, with both Cllr David Maxwell and Cllr TP O’Reilly originally selected at the selection convention, with the party running three established councillors in an attempt to hold onto the seat that was held by Heather Humphreys. Cllr Brady is an elected member of Cavan County Council since 2014. Elected on the fourth count of the recent local elections, Cllr Brady picked up 1,684 (14.03%) first preference votes, collecting 1,728 in total before being officially elected.

A poll topper at the last General Election, Matt Carthy has been an elected representative since winning a seat on Carrickmacross Town Council in 1999 when he was 21. He was Mayor of County Monaghan from 2008-2009. In 2014, he was elected as an MEP for the Midlands North West region and served until 2020 when he was elected as a TD for the Cavan-Monaghan constituency where he secured the highest ever vote of 16,310 in the constituency. He is the current party spokesperson on Foreign Affairs and Defence.

An independent candidate from Drumhillaghah, County Monaghan, Feargal Joseph Deery is a publican. 

Joseph Duffy is a retired farmer from Stranooden, County Monaghan. He previously contested the General Elections of 1989, 1997 and 2011 and in 2020, where he got 159 first preference votes. He also unsuccessfully contested this year’s local elections.

The Donegal native now living in Monaghan could possibly take a third seat for Fianna Fail following the departure of Heather Humphreys. A former garda, Mr Gallagher moved to Monaghan town in 1989 and served for a decade before setting up his own property company in the town. In 1999, he was elected to Monaghan Town Council and in 2004 to Monaghan County Council. From 2014 to 2016 he served on Monaghan Municipal District and he was also chair of County Monaghan Joint Policing Committee. A popular sitting Fianna Fáil Senator, he missed out on the last occasion but might take a seat this time around.

Independent candidate Lester Gordon was somewhat of a dark horse in this year’s local elections when he ran under the Shamrock Independents banner, only being eliminated on the eighth and final count in the Ballyjamesduff Electoral Area. He received 958 (8.05%) first preference votes and proved to be transfer friendly too. Mr Gordon is a small farmer and haulier.

Previously a Councillor for People Before Profit on South Dublin County Council, Emma Hendrick is running in the Cavan Monaghan constituency having unsuccessfully contested the 2024 Local Elections in the Ballymote Tubbercurry LEA in Sligo, where she picked up 203 first preference votes. Hendrick has lived in Sligo since 2020.

Kingscourt farmer and former Detective Sergeant Val Martin was selected as the Irish Freedom Party candidate for the Cavan Monaghan constituency back in September. He is strictly against the Green Party agenda, especially the ‘Carbon tax’ which he calls extortionate and unjust. He believes in a clean and green Ireland where people in rural Ireland can have a future in safe and secure country. Martin’s YouTube channel has over 6,000 subscribers.

First elected in 2004, David Maxwell has been a councillor for 21 years. He was also elected as Cathaoirleach of Monaghan County Council in 2018, and 2023. Given his undefeated record in the Local Elections, he is now up and running to take the seat vacated by Minister Heather Humphreys. Mr Maxwell support the arts, and is a member of the Garage Theatre Company Monaghan. He is deeply rooted in the local community and he commits to work to ensure that Monaghan is an attractive and prosperous place for all people within his local electoral area to live and work in.

Jimmy Stavrous Mee is a former member of the Defence Forces and works in security. He previous contested the General Election in 2016 where he secured 88 first preference votes. He also unsuccessfully stood in this year’s local elections.

Mark Moore (44) is originally from Kerry and has lived in Cavan for 13 years. Mr Moore was previously a member of People Before Profit-Solidarity and took part in anti-water charge protests.

Shane Mulligan hails from Castleblayney and has studied at the Institute of Technology in Tallaght. He says his priorities are the protection of our borders, prioritisation of housing and jobs for Irish citizens, and to restore accountability in government.

Monaghan town native Eddie O’Gara has been active in the Green Party for a number of years. He has also helped the party to run campaigns during local and general elections. A landscape architect by profession, he works with Dublin City Council. He has studied horticulture, landscape architecture and urban design over 25 years ago and has worked in both the private and public sector. Mr. O’Gara currently sits on the Monaghan County Council walking and cycling forum and has been nominated to the new Transport Strategic Policy Committee. He previously sat on the Housing Social and Cultural Strategic Policy Committee as well.

An ex-Fianna Fáil member, it’s believed that Shane P O’Reilly could take some votes from Niamh Smyth and it could be a close contest between these former party colleagues. The funeral director from Mullagh is a very well-known figure in Cavan politics and has previously been chairperson of Cavan County Council in 2014 and 2019, while his leadership skills have been widely acknowledged. He also has a formidable record in the local elections as he topped the poll in the Ballyjamesduff area in 2014 and 2019. He caused a major shock in 2020 when he announced that he was leaving the party due to “irreconcilable differences” with the party leadership and the direction in which it was going.

Like Shane P O’Reilly, Sarah O’Reilly is another former Fianna Fáil party member and could be another potential candidate for Niamh Smyth’s seat. At the time of her departure in 2018, she said that “it was clear the Fianna Fáil I knew no longer exists”. The outspoken councillor added that, in her view, Fianna Fáil had long departed from the core values that once made it a great organisation. The Baileborough native was co-opted on to Cavan County Council in 2016 after her then party colleague Niamh Smyth was elected to the Dáil. A charismatic figure, Ms O’Reilly is noted for her strong conviction on a number of issues.

A native of Ardlaw, Virginia, Cllr T.P. O’Reilly was first elected to the Cavan County Council in 2019. He returned to his seat in the local elections earlier this year and was appointed Cathaoirleach of Cavan County Council for the next year despite a bid by Sinn Féin for the position. Mr. O’Reilly had also run in 2020 to secure a seat in Dáil Éireann as one of three candidates alongside Heather Humphreys and Sandra McIntyre. He was able to secure 5,124 first preference votes, but missed out narrowly on the last and final seat. His main focus areas to work on are housing and climate issues.

A vastly experienced politician, Deputy Smith looks a sure bet to take the first Fianna Fáil seat, having been a TD for the constituency since 1992. And he has a most impressive political CV. An Arts graduate from UCD, he served as a special advisor to the late Fianna Fáil former Minister of Education, John Wilson, for 15 years. He has served as chairman of the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party since 2016 and is also a former Government Whip, Minister of State and Minister for Agriculture and Minister for Justice. He has delivered quite a lot for the constituency and is a recognised big vote getter.

The Knockbride native has been a Cavan-Monaghan TD since 2016, retaining her seat at the 2020 General Election. She was appointed chair of the Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht on September 2020. A member of Cavan County Council from 2009 to 2016, she was also elected the first President of the Fianna Fáil women’s network on September 14, 2015. Ms Smyth was appointed to the front bench as Fianna Fáil Spokesperson for the Arts and Heritage in May 2016. She is a niece of the legendary Patrick Smith, a founding member of the Fianna Fáil party who served from 1923 to 1977, becoming the longest serving TD in the history of the State.

The affable and eloquent Kilnaleck native is a secondary teacher of history in Breifne College and a popular figure throughout the county. Formerly known as Pauline Tully/McAuley, she has been a TD for Cavan-Monaghan since 2020. She was a member of Cavan County Council for the Ballyjamesduff local electoral area from 1999 to 2012. In 2003, Tully married IRA member Pearse McAuley, who, at the time, was imprisoned for the killing of Garda Jerry McCabe in Limerick in 1996. The couple separated in February 2014 and on Christmas Eve 2014 he stabbed her 13 times in front of their two children, for which he was imprisoned until June 2022.