FINE GAEL HAS selected councillors Naoise Ó Muirí and Aoibhinn Tormey to contest Dublin Bay North in the upcoming general election. 

Fine Gael have now chosen nine general election candidates in six constituencies. 

Richard Bruton has held a seat in the constituency since 2016, having previously been a TD for the Dublin North-Central constituency from 1982. In September, he announced that he would be standing down at the next general election. 

Bruton was previously a cabinet minister, serving as Minister for Education. He was also Chairman of the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party from July 2020 to September 2023.

He introduced the first Action Plan for Jobs in 2011. In 2023, at the time of his announcement of his departure from politics, then-Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael Leo Varadkar said it was to be Bruton’s “legacy”.

He was pivotal in getting the National Broadband Plan off the ground, and also published Ireland’s first Climate Action Plan.

Bruton is one of many Fine Gael politicians leaving politics behind, as former Tánaiste Simon Coveney announced this morning that he would not be contesting the next general election. 

Now, Fine Gael are pinning their hopes upon two local councillors to step up and fill in the veteran politician’s seat.

Naoise Ó Muirí has served as a Dublin City councillor since 2004, and has previously served as Lord Mayor of Dublin. Ó Muirí is chair of Dublin City’s Environment Strategic Policy Committee and a governor and member of the Executive Committee of the National Maternity Hospital. 

Aoibhinn Tormey is a county councillor representing the Howth-Malahide LEA on Fingal county council. She is a member of the Climate Action, Biodiversity, and Environment SPC, Howth SAAO Management Committee, and the Dublin North East Regional Health Forum.

Tormey is the daughter of former Dublin city councillor Dr Bill Tormey.

Fine Gael members selected the two councillors in a convention held in Hilton Dublin Airport, which was chaired by TD John Paul Phelan. 

Commenting on his selection, Ó Muirí said that he was “delighted” and that if elected, he will push for the availability of housing, and the expansion of housing policy in areas like factory-built housing, zero VAT rating for new builds, and planning reform among other areas.

“As an experienced public representative in our area for 20 years I will work very hard to get elected and to represent the interests of the people of Dublin Bay North in Dáil Éireann,” he said.

Tormey, who has been a county councillor for over five years, said that her priorities and those of “the next generation of Fine Gael TDs” would be addressing challenges in the areas of climate change, delivering more housing, improving public transport, investment in education, improvements in the HSE, mental health and disability services, as well as business supports, access to childcare, and more gardaí on the streets.

She commended TD Richard Bruton for his work as a TD over the years, saying that Bruton has done the state a “tremendous service” over the course of his career.

“I hope to continue the high standard of representation the constituency has experienced from Richard Bruton TD,” she said.

“Drawing on my experience as a senior clinical psychologist in mental health services and over five years as a county councillor, I am committed to bringing a fresh perspective and dedicated leadership in tackling these issues.”