Constituency: Galway East

A long-time representative and activist for Solidarity and the Socialist Party in Galway city, Conor Burke ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the East LEA on Galway City Council in the 2014, 2019 and 2024 local elections. A native of Castlegar, an area in Galway West where he ran in the 2020 general election, Mr Burke is trying his hand in Galway’s other Dáil constituency this time around. A carpenter by trade and a well-known local artist, he works with the Galway Arts Centre in the city’s west end.

A true political veteran, Belclare man Seán Canney first became a councillor 20 years ago and has sat in the Dáil since 2016. As a member of the old Independent Alliance, Mr Canney was among the independent TDs who supported Enda Kenny’s bid to stay on as taoiseach in 2016 and served as Minister of State until 2020. He now sits in the Regional Group, a technical group of nine TDs in the Dáil made up of Aontú leader Peader Tóibín and other independents including Cathal Berry and Michael Lowry.

At the other end of the age scale is Fianna Fáil councillor Albert Dolan. He became Galway’s youngest councillor in 2019 aged just 20 and held on to his seat for Athenry/Oranmore in June. He has established himself as a popular figure and exceeded the quota by hundreds of votes in 2019 and 2024 to be elected on the first count. Mr Dolan made history following the recent local elections by becoming Galway County Council’s youngest ever Cathaoirleach at the age of 25. The Monivea man is a qualified chartered accountant and comes from a farming background.

After speculation it would be Roscommon-Galway poll topper Michael Fitzmaurice moving into Galway East, it has instead been left to Williamstown native Declan Geraghty to run for Independent Ireland here. First elected to Galway County Council for the Ballinasloe LEA as an independent in 2019, Mr Geraghty was re-elected on the first count in June having joined the new party in February. The operator of a Williamstown-based roofing company, Mr Geraghty served as Cathaoirleach of the Ballinasloe Municipal District Council in 2023.

A psychologist by trade, Clodagh Higgins was first elected to Galway City Council in 2019 and served as Mayor of Galway city from 2022 to 2023. Though she has represented Salthill and the west side of the city in her five-year political career, she’s gearing up for a Dáil run in the other end of the county. Despite living and working within the confines of Galway West for more than a decade, Ms Higgins is no blow-in. Born and raised in Athenry, the Higgins family are well-known in the area and her husband Tom is a native of Dunmore, another town on the Galway East side of the tracks.

An unsuccessful candidate in both the local elections (Athenry-Oranmore) and the European elections (Midlands North-West) for the Labour Party, Fergal Landy has opted to put his name forward as an independent for the general election. Mr Landy, originally from Sixmilebridge in Co Clare, has said he is “aligned to progressive, centre-left values and policies”. Now living in the Maree/Oranmore area with his wife and three children, Mr Landy has a background in community development and social work. He is the CEO of the Family Resource Centre (FRC) National Forum, a national body that represents family resource centres around the country.

Hailing from rural Athenry, Eoin Madden ran unsuccessfully for a council seat in Athenry/Oranmore in June. Employed at the University of Galway, he has campaigned on how climate change will impact rural areas and true to his Athenry roots, is a hurling man and an active member of Killimordaly GAA. Public transport, a major issue in the Athenry area, is a core part of Mr Madden’s campaign. There are ongoing concerns surrounding overcrowding on the town’s rail service to Galway city, while the cancellation of a private bus service in the area has seen the National Transport Authority step in but the new publicly operated service is yet to get up and running.

This will be Niamh Madden’s first foray into electoral politics. The Portumna woman came out ahead of the Fine Gael’s Tuam branch secretary Kabir Ahmmed and Foods of Athenry founder Siobhán Lawless at the party’s selection convention in September. An auctioneer by trade, Ms Madden is a director with the Sherry FitzGerald Group, the country’s largest estate agency. Pete Roche is as Fine Gael’s best hope of holding the seat vacated by Ciarán Cannon and Clodagh Higgins is seen as more likely to pick up a second seat for the party, leaving Ms with something of an uphill battle here.

Another Portumna native wading into the world of politics for the first time, Paul Madden has said he is campaigning for more investment to be made in the west of the country to tackle decline in the region, and for better supports for small scale food producers and environmentally friendly farming activities. The father of three is involved with the Portumna Camogie Club, has a background in sales and marketing and is currently self employed as a business consultant.

After barely being pipped to the post in 2020, Sinn Féin’s Louis O’Hara will fancy his chances of taking advantage of the addition of a fourth seat. Then a 21-year-old college student, Mr O’Hara had been chosen to run for Sinn Féin despite never holding office and running unsuccessfully in the 2019 local elections. He was eliminated on the eighth count, coming within just a few hundred votes of springing a major shock over Ms Rabbitte for the third and final seat. Mr O’Hara made up for his 2019 loss in the summer and was elected to Galway County Council for the Athenry/Oranmore LEA, with a view to going one better again and claiming a first-ever Dáil seat for his party in Galway East.

Running for the far-right Irish People, Mr O’Reilly was a self-described “patriot independent” candidate in the 2020 general election, when he ran unsuccessfully. His unusual nickname is taken from a real-life hobby – he has been riding a horse and chariot at medieval shows and other cultural events up and down the country for years. On 2020 campaign leaflets, he described himself as “Ireland’s only charioteer” and said he reproduces “the heroic imagery of Cú Chulainn and Saint Patrick”. Mr O’Reilly is running as part of the National Alliance, a far-right nationalist movement that includes the National Party, Derek Blighe’s Ireland First and a number of independent candidates alongside the Irish People.

Ten years into her political career, Anne Rabbitte is a current Minister of State at both the Department of Health and the Department of Children, with responsibility for disability. From Portumna in south Galway, she was elected to the County Council in 2014 and won a seat in the Dáil two years later, quickly earning a place on the Fianna Fáil front bench. Though her seat should be safe, there may be some fear her running mate Albert Dolan, a popular local figure with a proven track record for getting votes, could overtake her, though there will also be some hope of Fianna Fáil winning two seats.

After an unsuccessful bid as Ciarán Cannon’s running mate in 2020, Abbeyknockmoy councillor Pete Roche will be hoping his colleague’s decision to bow out will see him pick up enough of the existing Fine Gael vote to get over the line. Should there only be one seat for Fine Gael here, Mr Roche is seen as the favourite ahead of Clodagh Higgins and Niamh Madden. He finished fifth in 2020, putting him in pole position to absorb the bulk of Ciarán Cannon’s support. An experienced operator working as a full-time councillor, he has held a seat on Galway County Council since 2009 and served as Leas-Cathaoirleach in 2020.

Another relatively young candidate, 26-year-old Luke Silke ran unsuccessfully for Aontú in the local elections. A creative writing graduate, Mr Silke became his party’s local representative for Tuam aged 23. He also studied history and is a published author. His book Cloondahamper: A History is written about the history of his own home patch in north Galway between Lavally and Barnaderg. If elected to the Dáil, he’d be no stranger to the confines of Leinster House – he currently works as a parliamentary assistant to his party leader Peader Tóibín.