INDEPENDENT SENATOR ALICE-MARY Higgins has announced that she will run as a candidate in the European Parliament elections.
The daughter of President Michael D Higgins revealed today that she will contest the May elections in the Dublin constituency.
Higgins was nominated by 60 members of the public who are on the electoral register in the constituency at Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin’s Temple Bar this morning.
This method is one of three ways a candidate can get on the ballot. The other ways are paying a financial deposit and being nominated by a political party.
“I chose this method of nomination because it reflects what I want for the EU, a more direct connection with the public. Europe is more than its institutions, it is made up of places and people and shared principles,” Senator Higgins said.
She added that the people who nominated her did so because of her record of “championing the best ideas from Europe while also pressing for positive reform.”
The Senator pledged that, if elected, she will push for better resourcing of public services and sustainable infrastructure and for stronger Directives on work-life balance, decent work and equality.
She joins several high-profile politicians on the ballot in the constituency, which currently has three seats but is set to gain an extra seat if the UK does not participate in the elections.
Former Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald and ex-SDLP leader Mark Durkan are on the ballot for Fine Gael, Barry Andrews is running for Fianna Fáil, Labour have nominated Alex White, Lynn Boylan is running for Sinn Féin, Ciarán Cuffe for the Green Party, Gary Gannon for the Social Democrats, Gillian Brien for Solidarity-People Before Profit and Éilis Ryan for the Workers’ Party.
Senator Higgins will launch her election manifesto over the coming week. The election will take place on Friday 24 May.
Editorial note: An earlier version of this story said Dublin was a three seater constituency and failed to note that it will gain a seat if the UK does not participate in the European elections.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say