Trinity student and Cork County Councillor James O’Connor has been elected to Dáil Éireann for his constituency of Cork East.
O’Connor is a member of Fianna Fáil and has represented the party on Cork County Council since last May. He secured election to the Dáil early on Monday morning on the eighth and final count, narrowly beating his party colleague Kevin O’Keefe to the fourth seat. He also received the second highest number of first-preference votes in his constituency, behind Sinn Féin’s Pat Buckley.
O’Connor is a fourth year Business, Economics and Social Studies student.
Announcing his candidacy a few weeks ago, O’Connor said that since his election as a Councillor he had been “working hard”, “fulfilling promises”, and “achieving progress in many areas”, and now wants “to do the same in Dáil Éireann”.
O’Connor said the Cork East constituency had “great potential” but had been left behind by “narrow political agendas”, and “has not been provided with its fair share of support from our Government”.
O’Connor cited his youth, calling for a “new generation of political representatives to take responsibility for the future of our community”.
The 22-year-old is the co-founder and Editor of Trinity Business Review (TBR), established in 2018. O’Connor has also worked for several members of the Dáil. He interned with Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin and Fianna Fáil spokesperson on Justice and Equality, Jim O’Callaghan. He also worked for the Minister of State for Higher Education Mary Mitchell O’Connor of Fine Gael on the issue of consent.
At the forefront of his message O’Connor put delivering resources to his constituency, promising to deliver investment for “education, health facilities, transport infrastructure and housing” as well as bringing “drive, positive energy and determination to Leinster House”.
Trinity students Tate Donnolly and Conor Reddy who also ran in this general election are still awaiting the outcomes of their consistency results.
