LAST UPDATE | 1 Dec 2023

SINN FÉIN LOUTH TD Imelda Munster has announced that she will not contest the next general election.

Munster, who was first elected to the Dáil in 2016, topped the poll in the constituency in the 2020 election with 24.34% of first-preference votes. She was the first woman ever elected as a Louth East Meath TD in 2016.

Before serving as a TD Munster spent 12 years on Louth County Council. 

In a statement today, Munster said she will continue to work hard on behalf of her constituency until the Dáil term ends. 

She added that she is confident her replacement “whoever they may be”, will be a strong voice for Louth.

Speaking on LMFM radio this morning, Munster said the decision to not seek re-election was entirely her own.

Munster is the Sinn Féin spokesperson for media, tourism and sport and has previously held the transport and business briefs for the party.

She is also a member of the Public Accounts Committee and the Joint Committee on Media, Sport, Tourism, the Arts and Culture.

She said it has been her “honour and privilege” to represent the people of her hometown Drogheda and County Louth.

“I entered politics because I love Drogheda and I wanted to work for my community. I have always done my best to be a strong Republican voice on behalf of the people of Drogheda. I am proud to have been able to represent the town and the wider constituency for the past twenty years.

“I will always reflect fondly on the fact that I was the first woman ever elected to this constituency. I also made history by receiving the highest vote of any TD ever elected here,” she said.

Munster added that it “may sound like a political cliché” but she “truly and genuinely” means it when she says that the proudest day of her life was the day she was chosen by the people of her constituency to be their representative and to work on their behalf.

“From the very first day I was elected I’ve had the people of Drogheda to the fore of my mind, whether it was on Louth County Council or in Dáil Éireann.

“I’ve spent my time as a representative raising issues for our town and county, and fighting the corner of those I’ve been so proud to represent,” she said. 

Munster thanked the local Sinn Féin organisation for their “hard work and unwavering support over the years”.

Munster is currently one of two Sinn Féin TDs in the Louth constituency alongside party colleague Ruairí Ó Murchú.

Both candidates topped the polls in the constituency in 2020 with Ó Murchú receiving the second highest first-preference vote share at 17.68%.

Earlier this week, fellow Louth TD Fergus O’Dowd also announced that he will not seek re-election.  In 2020, O’Dowd placed third in the constituency with 9.03% of first preference votes.

The Fine Gael TD was the latest in a string of Fine Gael TDs to announce that they will stand down at the next election.

The remaining TDs in the five-seater constituency of Louth are Independent Peter Fitzpatrick and the Labour Party’s Ged Nash.