Mallow county councillor seeks FF nod for Cork North Central seat in general election

A Cork county councillor is the latest person to seek the Fianna Fáil nomination for the next general election in Cork North Central.

With nominations now closed, it brings to four the number of potential candidates to be put before the party’s constituency selection convention.

Fianna Fáil currently have one sitting TD in Cork North Central, which at the next general election will go from four seats to five, following the boundary review, with Mallow and Ballincollig being subsumed into the northside city constituency.

Mallow-based barrister and county councillor Gearóid Murphy was the fourth and final person to be nominated to contest the selection convention, which is due to take place in the coming weeks.

Mr Murphy has represented the Mallow area in Cork County Council since 2017 and will contest the convention alongside Glanmire and Little Island-based TD Pádraig O’Sullivan and two former lords mayor, northside city councillor Tony Fitzgerald and Ballincollig-based city councillor Colm Kelleher.

Honoured

Mr Murphy said he had been honoured to have been nominated by grassroots members of his party for the selection convention.

“It is vitally important that Cork North Central has strong representation at national level and I would love to serve as a TD for my local area. During my seven years as a county councillor, I have experienced first-hand the pressing issues facing our area and I believe I am well-placed to advocate for these on a national level,” he said.

“As a TD, I would be a tireless campaigner for balanced regional development and for the vital infrastructure needed to support this, such as the North Ring Road, the Mallow Relief Road and the M20 Cork-Limerick Motorway,”

Mr Murphy said he would like to assist in formulating government policy in areas such as housing, and said he believed he had the lived experience needed to bring a fresh energy and perspective to Leinster House.