Fourteenth candidate declares to contest Limerick's directly elected mayoral election
Teacher and trade union organiser Caitríona Ní Chatháin to run for Socialist Party
A FOURTEENTH candidate has declared she will seek election to become Limerick's first executive mayor.
Caitríona Ní Chatháin, a secondary school teacher and trade union activist based on the city's southside, will represent the Socialist Party in the vote which will take place on Friday, June 7.
She says she has decided to run for the office after she was impacted by the housing crisis.
"Last year I was served a ‘no-fault’ eviction notice after I queried an unlawful rent increase with the RTB. Without a car and no availability of affordable housing, I was facing the possibility of not being able to get to work and teach. It is enraging to experience how greed can impact the lives of workers and those we serve. It’s really important that we recognise and fight the real enemy, as the late Sinéad O’Connor would have said. It’s the super-rich and their representatives in Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael who have caused the housing crisis. We must unite and fight for homes for all, rather than fight amongst ourselves over the crumbs they leave to us," she said.
Ms Ní Chatháin will launch her campaign with a rally at the Absolute Hotel in the city centre on Thursday, May 9, at 7pm, alongside former Socialist TD Ruth Coppinger.
She said: "Caitríona is a teacher and trade union activist as well as a prominent organiser over many years with the Rosa socialist feminist movement. So far there has been a lot of corporate talk about how to use the mayoral office to sell Limerick to investors."
Ms Coppinger added that if elected, the Socialist candidate for mayor will refuse to draw down the full salary the office-holder will be due - €150,000 a year.
"Rather than view the city as a product to be sold, we need to put on the agenda what kind of Limerick we need for those who live here," she added.
Ms Coppinger has invited activists and the public to speak about how they would like Limerick to look at the rally which wuill launch Ms Ní Chatháin's campaign.