Dublin Central didn't want a parachute candidate (even a popular one)

Thursday 16 April, 2026

26 Feb 2026

Sinn Féin's Dublin Central selection convention was meant to be a formality. Campaigner Gillian Sherratt was widely tipped to get the nod. Instead, the party's own members backed long-standing local councillor Janice Boylan. Was it a grassroots revolt against a parachute candidate?

Christine Bohan, Jane Matthews, Christina Finn and Rónán Duffy dig into why Irish politics keeps rejecting outsiders, what it means for the Dublin Central by-election,

Also: 'Gougers’, ‘hooligans' and a plague on all our rents.

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