Social Democrats to hold leadership election as Shortall and Murphy step down
Tomas Doherty
The co-leaders of the Social Democrats have confirmed they will step down from their roles, with a leadership election due at an "early date".
Catherine Murphy and Róisín Shortall made the "significant announcement" at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.
Ms Shortall said the pair had decided the time was right to "hand the leadership reins" to another Social Democrats TD.
She confirmed they are staying involved in politics and plan to stand as candidates in the next general election.
Ms Shortall said: "This is a very big decision for Catherine and myself. But it's also a big decision for the party. It has always been our belief that politics must deal with the present challenges which impact people's lives, but it is also vital that we take a long-term view.
"So now we are taking that advice, advice which we so often give to Government, advice that planning for the future is absolutely essential."
The announcement comes amid reports in the Irish Examiner that Holly Cairns, the TD for Cork South-West, is expected to become the next leader. Party sources said the transition will happen "within two weeks."
Ms Murphy, a Kildare North TD, co-founded the party with Dublin North-West deputy Ms Shortall in 2015 along with Stephen Donnelly, now Minister for Health and a Fianna Fáil TD.
Since then they have steered the party as co-leaders and saw a tripling of their Dáil seats in the last general election.
The Social Democrats currently have six TDs in the Dáil, and got 2.9 per cent of first preference votes in the 2020 election.
They won a similar number of first preference votes in the local elections. The latest opinion polls put the party at about 4 per cent.
The Social Democrats are the only major political party to have a female majority in the Dáil.
Ms Shortall and Ms Murphy are both former Labour Party members.
They previously resisted calls for a leadership contest from some Social Democrats members and councillors in 2021.
