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SINÉAD GIBNEY HAS said that if she was still a lone parent, running for a seat in Europe would’ve been out of reach.
The Social Democrats candidate was eliminated on the fifteenth count in the Dublin constituency, after quitting her full-time job with the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission to pursue an MEP role.
Gibney sold her car in order to put €20,000 of her own money into the campaign. The rest of the €60,000 budget was made up of personal savings, party investment and donations from supporters.
Neither she nor the party will get this money back, as Gibney fell just 440 votes short of the threshold for reimbursement.
She told The Journal that, while she knew it was a risk, she’d felt confident she’d reach the threshold because of how she fared in the polls, and the performance of fellow Social Democrat Gary Gannon’s Europe campaign five years ago.
“I knew a seat was going to be a difficult ask, but I believed we had a shot, and absolutely I thought I would get the expenses back,” she said.
Until three months ago, Gibney worked full-time as chief commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission.
She was in her fourth year of the five-year term but she decided to resign rather than take a sabbatical, as the role is apolitical and she would be closely aligned with a political party after her Europe campaign, win or lose.
The quota in the Dublin constituency was 75,345 votes, and in order to claim reimbursement, a candidate must have either won a seat or achieved at least one quarter of the quota. Gibney got 18,396, which is just below the amount required.
While she was surprised she didn’t accrue enough votes to get her money back, she says she is privileged to have been able to gamble on getting a seat.
“I also have a husband. We’re only married two years and, believe me, I was very very appreciative of what that meant.”
I’ve been a lone parent my whole life, and if I didn’t have a husband, I wouldn’t have been able to do this because I wouldn’t have had that cushion.
Gibney’s gaze has now shifted to a Dáil seat – a campaign which will cost both her and the party thousands more.
However, she’ll be up against parties with a much larger financial backing, demonstrating the disparity that still exists in the Irish political system.
“I really do think politics unfortunately still is out of bounds for a lot of people.
“We talk about America, we talk about the money that goes behind candidates … the reality is, to a lesser degree, it plays out here too,” she said.
“When parties can pay for 8,000 posters for a candidate, for example … posters work, reach works, and unfortunately it means the status quo remains.
I did print my posters in such a way that I could chop off the ‘for Europe’ at the bottom and potentially reuse them.
Since supporters have heard of her financial losses, Gibney says she’s received donations in the hundreds of euros, which she did not ask for.
She said support from the Social Democrats throughout the campaign and up until her elimination was unwavering.
“I think they will see it as an investment in a candidate they believe in,” she said.
“Any suggestion that they weren’t behind me both in terms of moral support, but also in terms of party backing, is just wrong.”
Between now and a general election, Gibney plans to find another job that can pay her rent.
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Just goes to show if you had no political experience whatsoever, were a well known jockey, and had appeared on Dancing with the Stars, then you might have had a chance.
Nobody should be representing Irish citizens in a European Parliament without having gained a few years experience at local or national level in Ireland
@Chaotic State: anyone can run for election, even the simpletons who frequent this cesspit 24/7
@Old Jim: Even me?
@Chaotic State: I consider that the ladies work experience carrys weight for the Dail by- election in DBN, where Labour’s Aodhan O’Riordan won a Euro seat. No transfers then though, unfortunately, which were there.
@Jimmy Wallace: fine gael wouldn’t even allow carberry to be questioned by the media. How do you think she is going to do in the parliament ffs?
@Chaotic State: Don’t hate the player, hate the game. Democracy is democracy… anyone can put their name in the hat.. I think your gripe should be with the thousands of voters who elect these celebrities as opposed to the candidates themselves who simply do everything they can to get elected
Well her previous role as ceo of ihrec in which she over saw and started the process of suing the Irish state for not accommodating aslyum seekers will cost. This case is on going in the high court, with her ngo looking for compensation for 2000 plus homeless aslyum seeker, which if the judge awards will cost the country millions. So no sinead, the people do not want someone who was ceo of a government funded ngo, who is suing the same government that funds them. Very unlikely she will get another handy ngo ceo job, she may even have to get an actual real job
@Mary Kelly:
Since the IHREC is funded almost entirely by government its basically the state suing itself, total clownworld! There needs to be a root and branch review of the whole NGO racket,a scandalous waste of taxpayers money on leftist pet projects!
@Jonn: Not being allowed to sue the state purely because you’re getting state funding would be a lot more worrying.
@Mary Kelly: the law is the law. If the case is successful it’s because the law was broken by the government.
Yet another rejection by the electorate of our smug self-ordained moral guardians in the NGO sector. People like Sinead have easy access to the Dail and mainstream media but when the public are offered the chance to deliver their verdict its a resounding no. Obviously she spent too much time in her far left echo-chamber if she thought she was a good bet for a seat. No doubt another cushy NGO job will come along before too long!
@Jonn: what was Gibneys connection to Ngos exactly and which one did she work with?
@M To The B:
She was the head of the IHREC,a no doubt lucrative if utterly useless gig!
@M To The B: the Irish human rights ihrec, government funded ngo suing the Irish government on behalf of homeless refugees, suing for compensation on their behalf.
@Mary Kelly:
I know,you couldn’t make it up. Delighted to see the electorate giving her a dose of reality. She should seize the chance to start afresh,maybe do something beneficial to society, rather than smugly lecturing the great unwashed about how horribly racist and homophobic they all are!
The main point is that it takes money (and a sizeable whack of it, too!) to run an election campaign. Is that fair? Does it allow for a healthy democracy? What hope does the ‘little guy’ have?
I suspect these stories are being designed to either a) allow people who fail to get elected get their money back or b) allow people who fit certain characteristics get their money back
@AnthonyK: Spot on, the article is clearly written for that purpose, pressure being applied to reimburse her. No doubt due to her previous role, something will be done or another NGO role created. Amazing too how her NGO role was supposed to be apolitical, shows how the NGO sector is infiltrated by people with agendas. The irony of her whinging about the monies lost by her, when the NGO led by her could yet cost the Irish State Millions in compensation paid to IPA’s if the State loses the case it has appealed. It would also mean that the State would have to prioritize housing IPA’s over Irish citizens if this case is lost, the sheer neck of her. Social Democrats getting to power will be worse than the Greens ever were.
@AnthonyK: Or maybe a journalist approached her knowing she fell short? Maybe it’s a good thing that people are fully aware of what it costs to run for election? Not always a conspiracy.
Lots of other candidates put up their own money to cover election expenses but fell short of the number of votes to qualify for reimbursement of expenses.
What’s this woman going on about? Why is the media pampering her ? This started as soon as it was obvious she wasn’t getting a seat and now are we being forced to feel sorry for her?
An experienced educated woman who knew how it all works. Nothing to see here, stop with the nonsense.
will all these donations be declared ?
To think, this lady misses out, but we’re about to send a jockey to make decisions that will affect all of Europe. You couldn’t make this up
@Ian McDonald: take it up with the voters
Delighted for her, not so smug now lol
Boohoo
I’d wonder about the relationship as the husband seems to be referred to as a cash machine!
Oh boo hoo, cry me a river. The electorate spoke & Ms Gibney doesn’t like it because it doesn’t suit her. I met this woman whilst she was canvassing on Moore st in Dublin & I found her to be abrasive, dismissive & somewhat arrogant. I told her politely that I had no intention of voting for her or anyone running on the social Democrats ticket as I think they are the Labour party with a sprinkling of liberal arts degrees. Given the nature of politics though I firmly believe this lot will make up party of the next coalition & they’ll be the new green party holding their coalition partners hostage.
have your say