Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Most people believed we would have a general election before the by-elections. It is probably a bellwether indicating how people feel about the incumbent Government. After the end of the month we will know the results.

Kellie Sweeney will be the People Before Profit candidate in Dublin Mid-West. She is the youngest candidate to stand in any of the four by-elections. I first got to know Kellie during the Dublin Mid-West campaign to repeal the eighth amendment. She played an amazing part in that campaign. She had not been involved in too many campaigns before and she really cut her teeth on that one. It was an honour to work with Kellie. As a nurse, she knows only too well the challenges for nurses in this country but also the challenges facing the health system. Some people come to activism by accident and others by choice or necessity when there is something wrong and they want to correct it. They are not inspired to sit on these seats but to change things that they know are wrong in society. There are many things wrong in society, especially in the context of housing, the health service and the direction in which Ireland is going. Kellie is a fantastic person. She is not a politician. I do not consider myself a politician. We are activists. She is a mother, a nurse and a voice for working-class people. If one has that, one has everything.

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