Galway designer and activist chosen as People Before Profit by-election candidate
As the only party to rule out potential coalition with Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, People Before Profit have made their choice for a candidate to contest in the Galway West by-election.
Commercial artist and designer Denman Rooke has been selected as the party’s candidate, running on a “vote l
eft, transfer left” message aimed at rejecting what he describes as the Government’s “failed market-led policies”.
The Galway city local is taking on a collaborative approach, already in discussion with fellow by-election candidate Sheila Garrity (independent), and other left parties.
Mr Rooke’s campaign will focus on the right to housing, disability justice, Irish neutrality, and continuing the torch of President Catherine Connolly, he said.
He called this by-election “another opportunity for the left to cooperate to win.”
Mr Rooke comes with years of experience in activism involving trade unions, worker’s rights, climate action, housing, and anti-racism.
Additionally, Mr Rooke is a member of the Community Action Tenants Union (CATU) which helps tenants with eviction and landlord conflicts.
“Housing is a human right. It should not be treated as an investment opportunity for big landlords. We need to ban investment funds from owning homes in Ireland,” he said in a statement.
“We need immediate rent controls and reductions and a ban on evictions, and we need a state construction company, scaled up as quickly as possible with the land banks, the finance and labour required to build the tens of thousands of social houses and apartments that we urgently need.”
Irish neutrality will remain a key part of Mr Rooke’s mission as he said the Connolly’s campaign showed the deep seeded interest Galwegians had in staving off the “deliberate erosion of our neutrality.”
“For our part, we will be clear as to why we are asking people to give People Before Profit their No. 1 vote,” he said. “In this by-election, I will offer People Before Profit’s radical alternative to the century-long rule of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.”
“An alternative where people’s needs for homes and essential goods come before the profits of the few, and where, on the global stage, we oppose militarisation and wars.”
The ballot card is filling up as other candidates so far include: Independent Ireland Councillor Noel Thomas; independent Councillor Tom Welby; Green Party representative Niall Murphy; independent Sheila Garrity; Labour Councillor Helen Ogbu; Aontú’s Orla Nugent; Social Democrats candidate Míde Nic Fhionnlaoich; and Fine Gael’s Seán Kyne.