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LABOUR’S BY-ELECTION candidate Ivana Bacik will “cycle straight through the middle of two extremes” to take the vacant seat in Dublin Bay South, her party leader predicted this morning.
Alan Kelly TD said the race is “of course” a test of his leadership of the party but that the by-election is also “a test for every political party”.
Bacik is running to fill the seat being vacated by Fine Gael’s Eoghan Murphy TD and said today that her priorities are “housing, care policies, environmental issues and better public amenities”.
Speaking at the formal launch of her campaign today, the Senator described herself as a “committed cyclist and regular sea swimmer” and said that cycling infrastructure and improved water quality are among the issues that she is committed to tackling.
On the first priority, she said that the government has “failed on housing”:
The developer-led model that’s been promoted by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil and this government has simply failed to deliver the homes that people need. And what we’re seeing is a lack of supply, unaffordable rents, lack of security of tenure.
Bacik said that her party is calling for “a rent freeze for three years”, labelling the government’s recent changes to controls as “piecemeal”.
Sinn Féin is also calling for a three-year rent freeze with its candidate in Dublin Bay South Senator Lynn Boylan also saying that housing is the central issue in the by-election.
James Geoghegan has also sought to place cycling and housing at the core of this electoral pitch for Fine Gael.
Speaking this morning, Labour party leader Alan Kelly TD said that “there are political parties trying to paint this as an electoral test between two extremes, a dichotomy between Sinn Féin and Fine Gael.”
Kelly said that “the people of Ireland in general don’t like extremes” and that Bacik is “going to get up on her bike and she’s going to cycle straight through the middle of those two extremes”.
Kelly was elected leader of the Labour party following last year’s general election having previously been critical of the level of support under his predecessor.
Asked today whether the by-election was first the true test of his leadership, Kelly said it could be described as such.
“Look, all elections are tests. So yes it’s the first electoral contest so the obvious answer is yes. But we’re very lucky that we have literally the best candidate we could have available to us,” he said.
Of course it’s a test. It’s a test for every political party but most of all I think it’s a test of what people are thinking, as we hopefully are coming out of Covid. I think that’s the real test but for me absolutely the experience has been fantastic to date, I’ve never seen such energy in a campaign.
Property tax
Last week, Fine Gael leader Leo Vardakar attempted to ease fears that the announcement of changes to the Local Property Tax (LPT) will impact the party’s chances in the by-election.
Giving examples that had been worked out for some properties, he said some homeowners in south Dublin will see reductions in their local property tax bills, not increases.
Asked today about potential tax rises for wealthier people in the constituency, Bacik said that “people understand, wherever they’re living in the constituency…that there has to be a fair taxation system”.
When asked if wealthier people in the constituency should pay more tax, Bacik responded by saying that what was needed was a “fair taxation system”.
“We have very been very clear, we support the Local Property Tax. Extraordinarily from our point of view, there are parties who say they are on the left who don’t support the Local Property Tax, we support that and we’ve stated that,” she said.
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Israeli settlers? In the same way we have Russian settlers in Ukraine currently? Stop using the language of propaganda
@TheCraftyCulchie: Settler is surely the most accurate term no? They themselves would probably not like that term as they don’t view where they live as a settlement or occupied land (not saying I agree with their view). BTW the Russian Ukranian conflict is very different. Ukrainians have historically never threatened or tried to invade Russia as far I’m aware.
@TheCraftyCulchie: The comparison with Ukraine-Russia is not at all appropriate and misleads people away from the root cause of the conflict.
Ukrainians and Russian linguistically, culturally and religiously overlap, and this is at the heart of the conflict.
Russia has an inability to accept that Ukraine has developed an independent national identity and wants to chart its own course as an independent sovereign nation. The war is the process of Ukraine getting divorced from Russia. Russia argues Ukraine is not different or distinct enough to be independent, Ukraine disagrees. Russia wants Ukraine to remain within it historical sphere of influence, and use it as a buffer against the West.
It’s interesting to listen to old Russian people when asked, “why Russians protect the motherland in another country?”
Almost no one accepts that Russia is fighting abroad, Ukraine is Russia.
This stems from ancient history, not the Soviet Union. Russians, Belorussians and Ukrainians were one people c. 1500 years ago and Kyiv was their capital. Over the centuries their culture and languages diverged, so distinct nationalities emerged, particularly in the 1920-30s when early Soviet promoted regionalism. However, Russia under Putin effectively treats Ukraine a quasi-region of Russia populated by people who should not be Ukrainian, but a united “triune people comprising Velikorussians, Malorussians and Belorussians”.
“This Soviet national policy secured at the state level the provision on three separate Slavic peoples: Russian, Ukrainian and Belorussian, instead of the large Russian nation, a triune people comprising Velikorussians, Malorussians and Belorussians.” – Vladmir Putin
@David Jordan: 20% of what you say is true, but the rest is the view of Russian liberals. Ukraine had a distinct identity for centuries while defending agains Turks, Tatars, Poland and Russia. At that time they had a democratic system called Hetmanat, where a hetman was elected as a leader. One of those hetmans, Bogdan Hmelnitskiy signed the Pereyaslav treaty with Russia with codependency in defence at its core. However over decades through corruption and threats Russia was able to control what Hetman is elected and soon after slowly took over Ukraine claiming it as its territory. Then a multitude of assimilation projects started with Ukrainians being deported to far east and Taiga of Russian empire, being replaced by Russian + penalties on non adoption of Russian language and culture.
Occupiers, not settlers.
It’s funny how Israel does not demolish the homes of the Israeli’s who are involved in these killings…..
Sanction Israel like you do North Korea or Russia.
How many Israeli settlers were shot by Israeli troops during the rampage.
Answer 0.
Religion is a scourge on humanity
The Israeli people have a right to be there and a right to live their lives without the threat of violence against them
@Aidy McBride: so do the Palestinians but don’t let your one sided rant get sidetracked
@Aidy McBride: Warning…Genius at work!!!
For almost 60 years since The 6 Day War of 1967 Israel has been illegally colonising the captured Palestinian territory of that war. The West ( USA, EU and UK) turn a blind eye to this for 2 reasons..1. Feelings of guilt for having allowed or participated in The Holocaust.
2. Israel as a regional military superpower and an ally of The West protects vital oil supplies in a very unstable part of the world.
Things look very bad for the Palestinians who have only themselves to depend on if they are not to meet the same bitter end of other native peoples who were colonised.
As we in Ireland have Unionist settlers in Northern Ireland.
have your say