Councillor Conor Reddy has been selected to run as a general election candidate in the Dublin North West constituency for People Before Profit. In the 2020 general election, Cllr Reddy (28) made a significant impact by finishing fourth in the three-seat constituency, eliminating sitting Fine Gael TD Noel Rock, before narrowly missing out on a seat. In June 2024, he was elected 3rd in the 6-seat council ward of Ballymun-Finglas in the recent Local Elections, running on a platform of homes for all, increasing special needs school places and supports, and campaigning for better maintenance services in council homes.
Cllr Reddy was born and raised in Finglas and attended school at Sacred Heart Boys National School and St. Kevin’s CBS. He is a final year PhD candidate in Immunology at the School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, researching the effects of stress and trauma on immunity and ageing in the homeless population.
As the founder and former president of the Postgraduate Workers’ Organisation, he helped win a 30% increase in state-funded PhD stipends to match the living wage. A longtime campaigner on housing, Cllr Reddy played a key role in Take Back the City in 2018, in the foundation of Raise the Roof and as a member of the National Homeless and Housing Coalition.
While an undergraduate student, Conor led the TCD Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign to victory in a 2018 student referendum. This year as a PhD rep in the University, he was part of a team of negotiators for the TCD BDS encampment that secured divestment of university funds from Israeli companies, among other concessions.
Following his selection as People Before Profit’s General Election candidate for Dublin North West, Cllr Reddy emphasised the need for a unified left-wing front in the upcoming general election. He said “Our communities have been neglected and failed by successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments. The Far Right are now preying on the despair and frustration that government failures have created. Left unity has never been more important. In the last election, the call to #VoteLeftTransferLeft came from ordinary people and raised the prospect of an historic left government without Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael. This election, the left must unite by ruling-out coalition with FF and FG and by presenting a common vision that speaks to the deep desire for change felt by working people. If Sinn Féin, the Social Democrats and Left Independents will make that commitment I will urge my supporters to transfer to them and I call on the other left candidates in Dublin North West to join me in this call.”
In June, Conor was part of the inter-party negotiations that led to a Progressive Alliance on Dublin City Council, involving People Before Profit, Sinn Féin, the Social Democrats and Left Independents. People Before Profit see the DCC Progressive Alliance as a potential first step towards left cooperation in the general election. People Before Profit have called for discussions between parties to agree transfer pacts and key policies to focus a united left campaign, challenging the government and far right.
“This year, we ran our local election campaign with the slogan ‘Evict Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael’. We are serious about fulfilling this promise. It’s time to kick out the parties whose policies have devastated our communities and marginalised so many. We should replace them with candidates who understand that radical change is needed to address crises in housing, healthcare and our public services.”